


stardust - taekook au

by kenthedoll



Category: Stardust (2007), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Attempted Murder, Boy x boy, Drinking, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Fairies, Fauns & Satyrs, Graphic depictions of violence - Freeform, Implied Sexual Content, Jeon Jungkook/Kim Taehyung - Freeform, Jungkook is human, Love Confessions, M/M, Magic AU, Marriage Proposal, Mentions of Death, Pining, Pirates, Royalty, Shapeshifting, Spells & Enchantments, Stardust AU, Supernatural AU - Freeform, Swearing, Taehyung is a fallen star, Unicorns, Unrequited Love, Voodoo, Witchcraft, Witches, girl x boy, hexes, mentions of torture, restoration of youth, stardust (2007) - Freeform, taekook, vkook
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-06-03 15:45:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 29,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19467121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kenthedoll/pseuds/kenthedoll
Summary: To win the heart of his beloved, a young man named Jungkook ventures into the realm of fairies and magic to retrieve a fallen star. What Jungkook finds however, is not a chunk of space rock, but a person named Taehyung. Taehyung is in great danger, for each of the king’s three sons seek to harness his powers in order to secure the throne, and several witches seek the same in order to achieve eternal youth and beauty.ORThe Taekook version of the 2007 film Stardust starring Claire Danes & Charlie Cox





	1. Prologue

##  _**** _

A philosopher once asked, _are we human because we gaze at the stars, or do we gaze at them because we are human?_

Pointless, really.

 _Do the stars gaze back?_

Now _that_ is the question.

Nearly 200 years ago, at The Royal Academy of Science in London, England, a letter arrived containing a very strange inquiry. 

It had come from a country boy, and the scientist who read it thought that it might have been a practical joke of some kind. But he duly wrote a reply, politely explaining that the inquiry was nonsense, and posted it to the boy who lived in a small southern European village called Wall; So named, the boy had said, for the wall that ran alongside it. 

A wall that, according to local folklore, hid an extraordinary secret.

**—**

“I am charged with guarding the portal to another world, and you’re asking me to just _let you through?!_ " 

The boy pretended to ponder the question for a second before simply replying, "yes.”  
Seokjin explained to the elderly guard, “because, let’s be honest, it’s a _field_.”

He placed a hand on the guard, Yoongi’s, shoulder and gently turned him so they were both facing the gap in the stone wall. Beyond the gap was, in fact, a field as well as a forest in the distance.

“Look,” Seokjin said exasperatedly, having been arguing with the man for about twenty minutes, “do you see another world out there? No. You see a field. Do you see anything nonhuman? No. And you know why? Because it's _a field!_ ”

"Hundreds of years this wall has been here. Hundreds of years this gap’s been under twenty-four-hour guard.”

"Well–”

"One more word and I’ll have you up in front of the village council.”

"Well,” Seokjin replied calmly, looking back towards the direction he originally came, “that seems rather final. I’d better just go home then, I suppose..”

"Right then,” Yoongi patted his shoulder, encouraging him to return home. “Goodnight, Seokjin. Give my best to your father.”

Once Yoongi turned back around to return to his post beside the wall’s gap, Seokjin turned to sprint past him. He quickly hopped through the gap and kept running until he could no longer hear Yoongi’s weak cries of, "stop! Stop!”

Through the green of the field and the trees of the forest, Seokjin approached a warm glow of light over the crest of a large hill.

Down below in the valley was a village, much larger than his own, surrounded by a (yet again much larger) wall, aglow with torch lights, music, and a diverse group of persons celebrating.

Seokjin wondered what their cause for celebration was. His endless curiosity is what lead him into a world so unlike his own; A world of magic.

There was an abundance of traveling salespeople, perched in their tents, shouting over the lively music in order to attract customers.

They sold potions, precious gemstones, rare materials from foreign lands, two-headed snakes, and more among enchanted objects of all varieties.

Seokjin couldn’t believe his eyes, he’d never seen such wonders in person, only heard of them from the local folklore.

Among the people and the tents and the animals, Seokjin found his gaze fixed upon a woman sat on the door steps of a gypsy caravan. 

Her nimble fingers played with the silk of her olive green gown as she watched the celebration with a hint of longing in her sparkling eyes.

When they met Jin’s gaze, a smile stretched upon her face. Seokjin returned the smile, and quickly tried to decide how best to approach her, when a much older woman stepped in between them, looking up at him.

“I don’t deal with time wasters,” she muttered before turning to tell the girl on the steps, “get over here and tend the stall. I’m off to The Slaughter Prince for a pint.”

She seemed to almost immediately disappear into the crowd, but Seokjin had been far too busy watching the woman in green step closer to him to notice her absence.

"See anything you like?”

"Um..” Seokjin was taken aback by her confidence and smiled wider as she placed her hands on her hips. “Definitely.”

This made her laugh, and Seokjin decided then that he’d like to hear the sound more often. However, he didn’t want to scare her off, so he stuttered, "wh-what I meant was..” he looked around for an excuse before pointing to a single bellflower in a holder on the table between them. “These ones, the-the blue ones. How much?”

"They might be the color of your hair,” she answered, glancing up at his dark strands before looking him in the eye once again, “or they may be all the memories you have from before you were three. I can check if you’d like.”

Seokjin waited for her to laugh again, or for her to say she was only kidding, but part of him was starting to believe she was serious.

"Anyways,” she continued, “you shouldn’t buy the blue ones.” She picked up the single remaining white flower and said, “snowdrop. It’ll bring you luck.”

"But what does that cost?”

"This one.. costs a kiss.”

Seokjin swallowed quickly as she leaned in to slip the stem of the snowdrop into his breast pocket. His gaze followed the movement of her hand all the way up until she lightly tapped her cheek, silently asking for her kiss as payment.

Seokjin leaned in to pay for the flower, only for her to turn her head at the last second, catching his lips with her own. They kissed soft and slow, leaning over the table to meet one another until she pulled back slightly.

"Is she gone?”

Seokjin glanced around, but before he could even answer, the woman was curling her finger, beckoning him to come closer.

"Follow me,” she smirked at him and as Seokjin obeyed, he was beginning to believe the snowdrop was a good investment after all.

She picked up the skirt of her dress as she ascended the caravan steps and that’s when Seokjin noticed the slim silver chain wrapped tightly around her ankle.

His gaze followed it all the way down to where it ran between his shoes and he bent down to lift it from the dirt.

She felt the vibration of it and quickly turned back, afraid she had been caught by her master. The look of fear in her eyes made concern grow in his.

“I’m a princess..” she whispered to him then, “I was tricked into becoming a witch’s slave.”

Seokjin’s lips parted absentmindedly and he wasn’t sure what he should’ve said in that moment.

"Will you liberate me?” she asked him so sweetly, how could he deny her?

He pulled his knife from his waist and quickly moved to break the chain. His smile was bright until he watched the two separated ends of it fuse back together all on their own. He frowned then.

“It’s an enchanted chain,” the princess explained, sounding just as disappointed as Seokjin felt. “I’ll only be free when she dies… I’m sorry.”

"If I can’t liberate you, what more do you want of me?” he asked, ever the curious young man he was. 

She smiled once again and Jin took it as a victory when she held out a hand for him to take. 

As her master drank herself blind at the pub just a stone’s throw away from them, Seokjin made love to the princess in the back of the witch’s caravan.

**—**

So the scientist was wrong and the wall had successfully done it’s job of hiding the magical kingdom of Stormhold.

The young man reluctantly returned to his home that night in his village. Having no way of liberating the woman, he sat at home hoping to forget all about his adventures on the other side of the wall.

But nine months later, he received an unexpected souvenir.

It was the first night of autumn when Seokjin received a knock upon his front door. He quickly lit an oil lantern, yawning as he did so for he had just gone to bed when he heard the knocking.

Yoongi stood before him when he opened the door. There was no sort of greeting or apology for how late it was, he just handed Seokjin a basket that turned out to be a lot heavier than it originally seemed.

“This was left at the wall for you,” Yoongi droned.

Seokjin raised the lantern slightly in order to assess the contents of the basket, and upon doing so, he was met with a tiny whine and the soft cherub face of a newborn baby laying snug beneath a small quilt.

On top of the quilt laid a scroll of paper wrapped around a candlestick.

“Says here his name is Jeongguk,” Yoongi informed him, slipping an envelope into the basket at Jeongguk’s feet.

Yoongi gave Seokjin a look as if to say he hoped he knew what he was doing, and with that, Seokjin closed the door.

Yoongi returned to his post at the wall, and Seokjin became a father overnight.


	2. Chapter 2

## [ 18 YEARS LATER ]

****

“Jeongguk, don’t forget the flowers!” Seokjin called out to his son, making sure he had everything before he left for Blaire’s house.

Jeongguk had been infatuated with her as of late, and Seokjin wasn’t exactly sure what to make of it, but he wished his son the best.

“Yes. Got them. Thanks, father,” he replied on his way out the front door. After shutting it behind him, Jeongguk took a moment to breathe in the night air before making his way to the other side of the village.

Eighteen years had passed since Seokjin’s adventure over the wall, and the baby, Jeongguk, grew up knowing nothing of his unconventional heritage.

But never mind how the infant became a boy. This is the story of how Jeongguk becomes a man; A much greater challenge altogether.

In order to achieve it, he must win the heart of his one true love.

So Jeongguk stood outside Blaire’s house, looking to make sure no one else was around before tossing a few pebbles up at her bedroom window.

Blaire had been upstairs with her friends, getting ready for bed and giggling about something the other had said, when they heard the tap-tap-tapping of pebbles on the stained glass.

“It’s him!” one of them gasped, and Blaire’s lips turned upward in a grin.

Jeongguk made sure the flowers looked presentable by holding them across his chest, and he let out a soft sigh when the window opened and he saw that Blaire was with her friends. He had been hoping to catch her alone by arriving at night.

“Namjoon?” Blaire had questioned upon pushing the window open and Jeongguk’s smile faded slightly.

“Uh, no.. I-It’s just Jeongguk.”

“Oh,” is all she replied with, awkwardly brushing her hair over her ear. “Did I leave something at the shop?” she asked, referring to the marketplace where he worked.

“Well, no, I just thought–” Jeongguk is cut off when suddenly the flowers are knocked from his hand.

“Jeongguk,” Namjoon poked the younger boy in the chest with his cane (not that he really needed one, he just wanted to look cool) and stared him down. In his other hand, was a bouquet of red roses.   
“Shop boy by day, peeping Tom by night. Is there no end to your charms?” he shoved Jeongguk backward with a thrust of his arm.

“Ow,” Jeongguk tried to laugh it off, but it actually hurt a lot.

“Joonie, there’s no need to be like that,” Blaire told the older man, though she had just been laughing about what happened a second beforehand. She merely pitied Jeongguk and he was completely oblivious. “Be nice to the poor boy.”

“Ah,” Namjoon glanced down at the mess he made of Jeongguk’s daisies. “Were those for Blaire?”

Jeongguk spotted a fallen tree branch and grabbed it, before lifting and holding it out towards Namjoon challengingly. The older man simply knocked the branch out of his hands with his cane before jabbing Jeongguk in the chest once again.

Before he even had a chance to react, Namjoon brought the cane behind his legs to sweep Jeongguk’s feet out from under him.

He landed flat on his back against the gravel, coughing as the wind had been knocked from his chest by the sudden impact.

“You were always useless at fencing in school, Jeongguk,” Namjoon stared down at him. “In fact, I’m having trouble remembering if there was _anything_ you were good at.”

“Namjoon,” Blaire called to him again, “that’s enough.”

Namjoon smirked at that and left Jeongguk lying on the gravel outside while he let himself into Blaire’s house.

“Are you alright?” Blaire asked Jeongguk who sat up to rest on his elbows.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he offered a smile despite the fact that he definitely didn’t feel fine.

The girls took a moment to giggle to themselves about the ordeal before closing the window and turning their attention to Namjoon who had made it upstairs by then.

—

The next morning, as Jeongguk came tumbling down the staircase, Seokjin raised a brow.

“Want some breakfast?” he asked from his seat at the end of the table.

Jeongguk rushed to grab some bread from the center of it and stuffed it into his vest that was slightly too big. In fact, every item of clothing he had was slightly too big, considering they were hand-me-downs from his father. “I’m really late for work.”

“You alright?” Seokjin asked, watching Jeongguk rush to pull on his hat and jacket.

“Yeah, fine. Why?”

“Oh, I dunno..” Seokjin approached the topic as gently as possible, “last night? How’d it go with Blaire?”

“Oh! It went good,” Jeongguk nodded with the fakest smile Jin had seen on him to date, “really, really good.”

Then he was out the door, leaving Seokjin to shake his head with a knowing sigh.

**—**

Later on in the day, Blaire approached Monday & Sons Grocery, the market Jeongguk had been working at for as long as he was physically able.

It had been quite a busy afternoon and there was a line of customers at the till that stretched outdoors.

Blaire either didn’t really care, or didn’t notice (most likely the former) the line, as she stepped right up to the till. “Hello, Jeongguk,” she greeted with a tight smile.

Jeongguk had been in the middle of a discussion with a customer when his crush approached.

“Blaire–” he was taken aback by her sudden presence and the customer he had been talking with glared at the young woman beside her.

“Pound of sugar, please,” she ordered before he could get a word in.

“Y-Yes,” Jeongguk nodded, immediately moving to find what she asked for. His boss watched the scene unfold from the corner with his arms crossed in suspicion.

“Let’s see, um.. a bag of flour, a dozen eggs..” she listed off, and by then the customer in front of her had given up, deciding to walk over and speak with the owner about it.   
“And look, I’m sorry about last night. Namjoon was really rude,” Blaire told him.

Jeongguk opened his mouth to tell her it wasn’t a big deal (even if it sort of was, to him at least), but she cut him off before he could speak, yet again.

“I also need a sack of potatoes, and some chocolate, please.”

Jeongguk lifted the sack onto the counter and asked, “may I perhaps see you tonight?”

“No,” Blaire answered, “but you may walk me home.”

There was an awkward silence for a moment before Jeongguk asked, “now?”

Blaire nodded with a giggle, seeming to know just how to get Jeongguk to do whatever she wanted without much effort at all. It was really a wonder that he hadn’t noticed how many times she had taken advantage of him in the past.

“Yes, yes. Right,” Jeongguk nodded.

Then he was leaving the market, in the middle of his shift, to carry Blaire’s groceries back to her house for her.

**—**

“Father, I lost my job..” Jeongguk stood in front of the mirror in his living room, practicing what exactly he would tell his father once he returned home. “Father, I lost my job, I’m sorry, I–” he shook his head at the way it sounded and prepared to try again, “father–”

“You lost your job.” Seokjin had just walked in. Having heard his son practicing the line over and over as he approached the front door, he said, “yes, so I heard.”

Jeongguk whipped around to face him the second he heard his father’s voice. “Father, I’m sorry, I–” Jeongguk sighed to himself and muttered, “maybe Mr. Monday was right. Maybe I _am_ deluding myself..”

Seokjin’s brows furrowed upon hearing this.

“I’m not good enough for Blaire–”

“He said that?” Seokjin moved to take a seat at their dining table. “That’s horse shit.”

Jeongguk moved to sit across from him then, with a fake smile on his face. “You really want to know how it went last night?”

“Yeah.”

“Not good,” he gave a short, self-deprecating laugh. “Come on, I’m-I’m wasting my time.. I’m not like Namjoon.”

“Jeongguk,” Seokjin leaned over the table to look his son in the eye, “I can tell you that every man I ever envied when I was a boy has lead an unremarkable life.”

Jeongguk looked down at the tabletop upon hearing this, feeling a bit of comfort in the fact that his father was on his side, but simultaneously feeling like he’d never amount to much more than what he had in that moment, which was next to nothing.

“So you don’t fit with the popular crowd,” Seokjin waved it off as if to say it wasn’t a big deal, because it really wasn’t, but Jeongguk didn’t necessarily feel that way. “I take that as a _very_ good omen.”

**—**

“Jeongguk, I thought I said–”

“I know. You told me not to come,” Jeongguk rushed to explain when he found himself stood outside Blaire’s bedroom window once again. “But I have something for you. A surprise.”

Blaire sighed and she thought it over for a moment before closing the window.

“I–” Jeongguk tried, but when her bedroom lantern was blown out, he took the hint and turned to walk away, feeling defeated yet again.

He only made it a few feet however, when he felt a gentle pair of hands come to rest around his bicep. “It’s not my birthday for another week, you know,” Blaire smiled at him.

Despite already knowing this, Jeongguk nodded and proceeded to lead her to the spot he’d set up just beside the village wall.

A quilt was laid out and candles lit up the area within the darkness. Jeongguk prepared them dinner and spent a decent amount of his hard-earned cash to buy a bottle of champagne.

“I’ve never had champagne before,” Blaire told him around her glass before taking a sip. “My God, this is delicious!”

Jeongguk smiled fondly at her reaction, sipping from his own glass and humming in content.

“How does a shop boy afford all of this?”

Jeongguk’s smile fell the slightest bit.   
“M'not a shop boy.”

“Oh yeah, I heard. I’m sorry,” Blaire gave him a half frown, which was quite ironic considering she was part of the reason he was fired in the first place. “What are you going to do now?”

“No, I mean I’m not a shop boy,” Jeongguk explained further, setting his glass down carefully. “I was just working in a shop, and now I’m not. Now I’m free to live my life as I wish.”

“This must have been all your savings,” Blaire gestured vaguely to everything Jeongguk had set up for them.

Blaire liked to talk about money and material things.  
Jeongguk liked to talk to Blaire.

Why exactly? Not even he really knew.

“So?” Jeongguk asked. “I can make more. That’s the beauty of it. I never intended to stay in Wall, Blaire. There’s a big world out there and I’m gonna make my fortune.”

“You sound just like Namjoon,” Blaire told him, and it’s exactly what Jeongguk wanted to hear in that moment (not). “He’s quite a traveler. Did you know he’s traveling _all the way to Ipswich_ just to buy me a ring?”

Jeongguk laughed a little at first, “Ipswich? Blaire, I’m talking about Madrid, or Paris, or–” suddenly it clicked within his brain that she had also said _“to buy me a ring.”_

“A ring?” he asked, disregarding his previous statements in order to ask a question he dreaded the answer for, “what kind of a ring?”

“The word is he’s planning to propose to me on my birthday,” she sipped her champagne again, smirking as if she knew what it did to Jeongguk when she spoke about other men.

“He’s gonna..” Jeongguk offered a weak smile at the thought, not wishing to come across like it bothered him as much as it did. “And you’re going to say yes?”

“Well, I can’t exactly say no,” she laughed as if what he asked was ridiculous, “especially after he’s gone all the way to Ipswich.”

“All the way to Ipswich?” Jeongguk asked incredulously, as if to say the distance wasn’t great enough. “Blaire.. for your hand in marriage, I’d cross _oceans_! O-Or _continents_!”

“Really?” she hummed, leaning in a bit closer to him.

“Yes,” he nodded seriously. “Blaire, for your hand in marriage, I would go to the gold fields of San Francisco and bring you back your weight in gold.”

Blaire giggled at the idea as if she didn’t believe he would, and Jeongguk was starting to feel like he might still have a chance to win her over.

“I would,” he assured her, leaning on his arm to be closer to her. “I’d go to Africa and bring you back a diamond as big as your fist.”

Blaire’s smile was the biggest it had ever been within Jeongguk’s company, and he probably should’ve quit while he was ahead, but part of him was dying to know what it felt like to kiss someone.

As Blaire looked him in the eye with a hint of something mischievous in them, Jeongguk continued, just thinking out loud, “or I’d go to the Arctic and slaughter a polar bear and bring you back it’s head.”

Just before their lips could touch, Blaire was pulling away with a look of shock painting her features.

“A polar bear’s head?” she scoffed in disgust before shaking her head. “You’re funny, Jeongguk,” she lightly tapped the tip of his nose with her fingertip. “But people like you, and people like me, we’re just not..” she shrugged, leaving the statement open ended.

Jeongguk really should’ve seen it coming.   
It always did.

“I should be going,” Blaire said then, moving to stand, “it’s getting really late.”

“Hold on a minute,” he said softly, “let’s at least finish the champagne..”

Blaire sighed, but gave in, “okay,” and let him pour her another glassful.

Had Jeongguk known then how the stars watched Earth, he’d have shuddered at the very thought of an audience to his humiliation.

But, fortunately for him, nearly every star in the sky was, in that moment, looking in earnest at the land on the other side of the wall; Where the King of all of Stormhold lay on his deathbed.

Which was a coincidence, because it was the King’s final act that would change the course of Jeongguk’s destiny _forever_.


	3. Chapter 3

“Where is Secundus?” the King croaked from where he lay beneath thick mink blankets among his royal deathbed.

He was surrounded by an elderly bishop, and three of his eight children: his sons, Prince Primus in purple, Prince Tertius in green, and Prince Septimus in black.

Prince Secundus made quite the habit of being late to most events, but his brothers thought him particularly disgraceful in that moment, considering their father lay dying as they all waited for him.

“He is on his way, father,” Primus assured him kindly from where he standing beside a brooding Septimus.

“Then we shall wait,” the King declared, much to the dismay of the three men.

As if on cue, the guards posted beside the heavy bedroom doors pulled them open, and in walked the tardy prince with a smirk resting on his lips.

He knew what was to come of this day, as did his brothers, each of which believed they were next in line for the throne.

The instant he was inside the room, the guards sealed the doors behind him just as quickly as they had opened them.

“Sorry I’m late, father. I came as swiftly as I was able,” Secundus announced upon his arrival. He knelt down beside the bed to show his respect before standing between his brothers, the princes Septimus and Tertius.

Secundus greeted each of his three remaining brothers with a tight-lipped smile and a simple statement of their names, “Primus. Septimus. Tertius.”

The three brothers just silently glared at him until their father spoke once more.

“So, to the matter of succession,” the King began. “Of my seven sons, there are four of you today still standing. This is quite a break of tradition. I had twelve brothers, and–”

“And you killed them all for your throne before your father, the King, even felt poorly,” Septimus spoke flatly, for he and all of his siblings had heard the story countless times throughout their lives. “Yes, we know, father. You are strong and courageous.”

“And _cunning_. Most importantly, cunning,” the King boasted before looking at his second eldest son, “Secundus.”

“Yes, father?” the prince in red stepped forward with a hopeful smile.

“Look through the window. Tell me what you see.”

Secundus obeyed, turning to walk towards the massive floor-to-ceiling windows that had been opened in order to try and combat the King’s high fever.

The prince stood proudly on the royal balcony, overlooking all of Stormhold from where their castle was perched atop the tallest mountain.

“I see the kingdom, father,” Secundus declared. “The whole of Stormhold.”

“And?”

“ _My_ kingdom?” Secundus asked hopefully when he turned back, causing his three brothers to immediately turn their attention back to their father.

“Maybe,” the King smiled. “Look up.”

Secundus turned to face the kingdom once more and tilted his head back per his father’s request, watching the stars glisten and glow in the night sky.

As he did so, the King looked at his son Septimus and tilted his head in the direction of Secundus.

Septimus had no trouble understanding what was being asked of him in that moment. In fact, he smirked wickedly as he turned to sneak up behind his older brother.

With a hard shove to the shoulders, Septimus sent Secundus over the edge of the balcony, and down down down to his death in the valley below.

It was a while before they could no longer hear his screams.

The King simply laughed hoarsely from his bed, his eyes closed and head tipped back in amusement as the bishop shuddered silently in horror from where he stood by the headboard.

The King went into a coughing fit shortly after, and as he regained control of his breathing, he called for, “Una? Una?”

“No, father. It’s me, your son Tertius.”

“Oh,” was the reply, bitter with disappointment. “Where is your sister, Una?”

“I’m sorry, father,” Primus frowned. “Nobody has seen Una for years now.”

Because Princess Una was a woman, as well as the only female heir, she would only be appointed Queen of Stormhold should any remaining male heirs to the throne be dead. Therefore, her brothers never saw her as a threat, and wouldn’t even think about murdering her as they did their brothers.

“Septimus.”

“What?” the prince in black asked curiously, preparing himself for any tricks his father may try to pull as he had done with Secundus only moments ago.

“Tradition dictates the throne must pass to a male heir.

"Exactly, father,” Septimus nodded. “So why would I bother with killing my baby sister when these cretins are still alive?” he gestured to his two remaining brothers standing silently at his side.

“Indeed,” the King smiled proudly, ever admiring how similar he and Septimus were to each other. “Therefore, we shall resolve the situation in a non-traditional manner.”

He reached to unclasp the heavy golden chain that had been around his neck since the day he was crowned King of Stormhold. The pocket watch-sized chunk of diamond hanging from it was a ruby red color, symbolizing the King’s blood.

Removing the necklace meant that the King had accepted his fate and was finally ready to pass on the throne to his successor.

As he held it out in front of him, the ruby red color faded to a crystal clear transparency. When he let go, the necklace stayed afloat within the space before him, and the stone began to glow.

With his final breaths, the King told his three sons, “only he of royal blood can restore the ruby.. and the one of you that does so shall be the new King of Stormhold..”

His heart stopped in the next instant and his body fell limp on the bed.

Each of the three potential Kings of Stormhold reached forward simultaneously in attempts to snatch the stone from the air, but before any of them could get a grasp of it, the chain seemed to launch itself out of the window and into the night sky.

The brothers rushed to the balcony with matching looks of both anger and confusion on each of their faces as they watched the glow of the necklace disappear among the stars.

“Of course,” Septimus muttered as he moved to return inside the castle. Primus and Tertius followed suit, and the three princes began thinking of possible ways to reclaim the stone.

What they missed out on as they strategized, was the momentary burst of cosmic energy that surged across the darkness of the sky. Shades of blue and purple and pink stretched from it, circling the fiery burst like the rings of asteroids, ice, and dust that circled the planet Saturn.

The burst disappeared just about as quickly as it appeared however, before a single ball of light came surging into the Earth’s atmosphere with a shimmering tail like a comet.

**—**

“Oh, Jeongguk! A shooting star!” Blaire exclaimed excitedly from where they were sat beside the wall, drinking their last glassful of the champagne. “ _Beautiful!_ ”

They were both a little tipsy by then, smiling bright and giggling happily as they watched the ball of light stream further and further away from them.

“More beautiful than a fancy ring from Ipswich?” Jeongguk asked, sipping from his glass with a smirk.

Blaire looked at him then, unsure of how to respond.

“Blaire,” Jeongguk began, setting his glass down and looking her in the eye, “for your hand in marriage, I’d cross the wall and bring you back that fallen star.”

“You can’t cross the wall,” Blaire gave him a look and shook her head. “Nobody crosses the wall. Now you’re just being silly.”

“I’m not being silly. I’d do it,” he nodded seriously. “For you, I’d do anything.”

Blaire smiled at that, though she already knew she had him wrapped around her finger. “Hmm..” she pretended to think it over, “my very own star.” She raised her glass towards him, “it seems we have ourselves an agreement.”

Jeongguk lifted his glass again and smiled softly as he moved to gently tap his glass against hers, but she pulled hers back before he could.

“You have exactly one week or I’m marrying Namjoon,” she made sure he understood, and he nodded to show that he did, before she let their glasses touch with a brief ‘clink.’

**—**

Beyond the wall, deep within the enchanted forests of Stormhold, was a small coven of three elderly witches. One of which, Lamia, had been studying the night sky when she noticed the stream of light shooting through the air. She gasped in realization as it disappeared over the roof of their house.

Several moments later, with a thunderous boom and a momentary shake of the earth, the comet had finally struck land.

Along with the King’s diamond necklace.

“Mormo! Empusa! Wake up, now!” Lamia shouted at her sisters once she’d gone back inside.

“What is it?” Empusa grumbled tiredly as her and Mormo slowly sat up in their beds.

“A star has fallen.”

This was all it took for the two of them to follow Lamia into their potions room.

“Where are the Babylon candles?” she asked as she quickly searched the shelves for any sign of a black candlestick, but finding nothing of the sort.

“You used the last one, Lamia. 200 years ago. Do you not recall?” Mormo asked incredulously.

“Perhaps we can obtain another,” Empusa suggested, causing her sisters to roll their eyes in annoyance.

Lamia turned to her then. “Has your mind become as decrepit as your face, Empusa?” she spat. “You speak as if such things are freely available!”

“I know, sister.. I merely thought–”

“You’d rather have us hunting for a Babylon candle while some other witch finds _our_ _star_. Fool! There is no time to waste. If we must retrieve it on foot, then we shall. We just need information.”

Lamia walked over to the corner of the room where numerous animals of all varieties were kept in cages for them to use whenever they please for whatever they pleased.

Mormo snatched a ferret from one of the cages and held it down on a table for Empusa to cut into it’s stomach.

The three of them leaned in closer to study it’s entrails.

“If these divinations are correct, the fallen star lies a hundred miles away,” Lamia thought aloud.

“Four centuries we’ve waited for this,” Empusa shook her head. “What hardship a few more days?”

“Which of us shall go then? To seek it and bring it back?” Mormo smirked, and the three of them closed their eyes before reaching out on the table for the ferret’s organs.

Lamia peeked to make sure she was holding the heart when her sisters opened their eyes as well.

“I have his kidney,” Mormo informed them.

“I have his liver,” said Empusa.

“And I have his heart,” Lamia grinned wickedly as her sisters rolled their eyes out of jealousy.

“You’ll be needing what’s left of the last star,” Empusa sighed, retrieving a small box from where it was hidden within a safe. She set it on the table and shook her head as she watched Lamia open it.

“Hm,” Lamia hummed in disappointment. “There’s not much left.”

“Soon there’ll be plenty for us all,” Mormo assured them both with a smirk while Lamia lifted the small bit of light from the box.

She turned to face the large mirror on the wall before placing the last of the previously fallen star on her tongue, and as she swallowed, she watched her body absorb all of the strength and energy from it.

Her once balding head grew golden locks down to her waist, her once wrinkled and age-spotted skin had shrunk back into it’s tight youthful form, and overall, she felt absolutely and positively exhilarated.

Mormo and Empusa watched in envy as Lamia admired her youthful form, smiling brighter than the sun with her pearl white teeth and soft red lips.

They took it all with a grain of salt and simply reminded themselves: _soon there’ll be plenty for us all._


	4. Chapter 4

“Seokjin,” Yoongi the wall guardian croaked from his spot beside the stone structure. “Not again,” he shakily stood and stepped closer to the man.

“It’s Jeongguk, actually,” Jeongguk corrected politely, though he was a little confused because he didn’t expect the guard to know of his father.

“Oh..” the elderly man squinted in the darkness to try and get a better look at him. “You do look a bit like your father.. and I suppose you intend to cross the wall as well, do you?”

“I–” Jeongguk was about to say he didn’t know what he was speaking of when Yoongi quickly spoke again.

“Well, you can forget it. Go home,” Yoongi raised his cane to Jeongguk’s chest and gently walked him a few steps backward.

“Cross the wall as well as who?” Jeongguk asked curiously, and that was when Yoongi realized he had fucked up.

“No one. Nobody,” he replied, walking Jeongguk a few more steps back. “Nobody crosses the wall! You know that! Everybody knows that!”

“Yeah, I know. No, I understand,” Jeongguk assured the guard. “Nobody,” he pursed his lips sadly, then briefly gestured behind himself with his thumb. “I guess I’d better get back home, then.”

“Yeah,” Yoongi nodded in agreement. “Night, Jeongguk.”

“Goodnight,” Jeongguk nodded respectfully as he turned to walk back in the direction he came.

“Give my best to your father,” Yoongi told him, the same as he had told Seokjin eighteen years ago, and turned back to return to his post.

Like father, like son, Jeongguk immediately turned to sprint past the guard and through the gap, only to be unexpectedly shoved back by Yoongi’s cane again.

Jeongguk was taken aback by Yoongi’s unforeseen strength, but shook it off as having not been prepared for it.

Yoongi held his hand out in front of him, warning Jeongguk away, but the young man laughed light-heartedly and charged the guard, only to be clothes-lined by his cane.

Jeongguk landed on his back in the grass. With the wind knocked from his chest, he groaned out of both pain and annoyance, because he had been reminded of the other night when _Namjoon_ had knocked him on his ass using _his_ cane.

“Off you go,” Yoongi smirked down at him, waving him off.

**—**

“I thought I heard you come in,” Seokjin greeted his son as he descended the staircase. When he noticed the way Jeongguk was holding his waist, a look of concern settled on his face, and he asked, “hey, what happened? Are you hurt?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Was it that Namjoon again?”

“No,” Jeongguk shook his head with a huff. “Actually, it was the guard. The guard at the wall.”

“Jeongguk. He’s ninety-seven years old.”

“Well, that’s given him plenty of time to practice then, hasn’t it?”

“Why, may I ask, were you trying to cross the wall?” Seokjin asked him curiously, and Jeongguk was prepared for a lecture, but there wasn’t going to be one.

“I might ask you the same thing,” Jeongguk finally looked him in the eye.

Seokjin decided then that Jeongguk was ready.

He was ready to learn the truth about himself; Where he really came from, how he really got there, and of course, _his_ _mother_.

Jeongguk seemed to take all of the information pretty well, or at least Seokjin thought so, as they sat together in their rickety attic with the basket Jeongguk had been delivered in as a babe.

“I have a mother..” was the first thing Jeongguk said once Seokjin had finished explaining, and he had been given a moment to really process everything he’d just been told. “I mean, _I have a mother_ ,” he seemed to almost be in shock, but pleasantly so, “a-and she could still be alive.”

“Oh, I hope so,” Seokjin nodded, “I certainly like to think so.”

He reached into his pants pocket to retrieve a string of silver he’d kept hidden throughout Jeongguk’s childhood.

“The chain you cut,” Jeongguk smiled brightly in recognition when his father handed it over to him, “just like you said.”

“And..” Seokjin moved the basket between them in order to show Jeongguk what had been delivered with him. The first thing he showed him was the white snowdrop flower.

“The glass flower,” Jeongguk’s eyes were alight with wonder, speaking softly. “The flower she sold to you.”

“She told me it would bring me luck,” Seokjin told him, and as he watched his son spin the flower between his thumb and forefinger, Seokjin truly did feel lucky.

Growing up, Seokjin never would have imagined a world where he’d be a father. But every day, he felt proud to call the boy in front of him his son.

“Keep it,” he told Jeongguk.

“Thank you,” Jeongguk nodded, slipping the flower into his breast pocket.

“This was also in the basket,” Seokjin showed him the letter that had been wrapped around a single candlestick. “I’ve never opened it. It’s addressed to you.”

Jeongguk accepted the scroll with curiosity in his eyes, and unwrapped it carefully, for the paper had become weak and brittle by then.

He handed the candle of black wax over to his father to hold while he read the letter aloud. Seeing his mother’s handwriting for the first time brought the light prickle of tears to his eyes.

 **_My dearest Jeongguk, please know that I only ever wanted the best for you._ **  
**_Had my mistress allowed it, I would have kept you in a heartbeat._ **  
**_My dearest wish is that we will meet again someday._ **  
**_The fastest way to travel is by candlelight._ **  
**_To use it, think of me and only me._ **  
**_I will think of you every day, for always._ **  
**_~Your mother_ **

Seokjin’s eyes were also rimmed with tears by the time Jeongguk had finished. He handed the candle down to his son with a proud smile.

“Do you have a light?” Jeongguk asked, holding onto the cylinder of wax steadily with both hands.

Seokjin retrieved his matchbook and with a slide of a match over the wooden floorboard, a small flame flickered between them.

Jeongguk looked his father in the eye and nodded as if to tell him that everything would be okay.

Seokjin nodded, ever the firm believer in his son, and held the flame to the wick of the candle.

With a quick and blinding flash of light, Jeongguk’s body was transported over one hundred miles north of the village of Wall.

While he and his father had expected him to arrive safely at whatever location his mother happened to be stationed for the time being, Jeongguk was quite concerned to find himself crashing into another person.

“Mother?” he had asked before he could get a good look at the person he had just accidentally tackled to the dirt.

An ashen-brunette haired man lay trapped beneath Jeongguk; Dark brows raised, brown eyes wide, and pink lips parted with shock.

Upon realizing that the person was _definitely not his mother_ , Jeongguk quickly rushed to apologize, “oh, I’m-I’m so sorry! Are you alright?”

The young man beneath him narrowed his eyes at him, “no, I’m not, and I’m not your mother, so _get off me!_ ”

Jeongguk quickly moved to stand then and frowned as he thought aloud, “you’re not my mother.”

“Do I _look_ like I’m your mother?” the man asked incredulously from where he was rested on his forearms against the dirt.

That’s when Jeongguk realized the man, who didn’t seem much older than him, was wearing absolutely nothing but a pair of sky blue silk shorts (that had since been tattered with dirt, thanks to Jeongguk), and a large diamond hanging around his neck on a thick golden chain.

“No,” Jeongguk replied, and if anything, he thought the man looked cold, and also a bit strange for being nearly naked outdoors. Especially at a time like that. “Sorry.”

The man shook his head and moved to attempt to stand, but hissed quietly in pain upon putting any weight on his left ankle.

“Are you alright? Do you want some help?”

“You can help by _leaving me alone_ ,” the man snapped, looking up at Jeongguk with a brooding gaze.

“Alright,” Jeongguk backed away from him and glanced around them to get a good look at his surroundings. Upon doing so, he realized they were standing in the middle of a giant crater.

“Oh, my God.. _light the candle and think of me_..” he thought aloud of his mothers very clear and specific instructions, trying to figure out where exactly he went wrong.

“I was. I was thinking of my..” Jeongguk’s look of confusion washed away into one of realization, “but then Blaire and the star just–”

Jeongguk interrupted his own thought process to begin scanning the area for any trace of a glowing celestial space rock, but found none.

“Excuse me, sir. Sorry,” Jeongguk approached the injured brunette man once more. “This may seem strange, but have you seen a fallen star anywhere?”

The man laughed shortly at that.  
“You’re funny,” he said flatly.

Jeongguk, ever the oblivious young man he was, began to explain that, “no, really, we’re in a crater! This _must_ be where it fell!”

He spoke with such wonder and naïvety as he stared up at the night sky, the man almost felt bad for mocking him in the next moment. _Almost_.

“Yeah, this _is_ where it fell,” he nodded with fake interest. “Or, if you want to be _really_ specific, up there,” the man pointed to the sky, then grasped the diamond hanging over his heart, “is where this weird clunky necklace came out of nowhere and knocked it out of the heavens when it was just minding it’s own business.”

Jeongguk was as confused as ever, but listened intently as the man pointed to their left and explained, “and over _there_ is where it landed.”

Then he pointed to the ground where he was sitting, “and right _here_ is where it got hit by a _magical flying moron!_ ”

It took Jeongguk a second, but finally, with wide eyes, he pointed to the man and said, “ _you’re_ the star! You’re the star? _Really?_ ”

The star bounced his brows at Jeongguk as if to say it took him long enough to realize.

“Oh, wow,” Jeongguk gave him a once over. “I’m sorry. I had no idea you’d be a..” he left the statement open ended, as he wasn’t exactly sure what to call him.

Was he even human?

He appeared to be, but Jeongguk wasn’t entirely sure.

Did he even have a name?

“May I just say in advance that I’m sorry?” Jeongguk said then, and the star’s brows furrowed at that.

“Sorry for what?”

“For this.”

In the next second, Jeongguk quickly wrapped the enchanted silver chain he’d gotten from his father around the star’s wrist. His jaw dropped and he glared up at Jeongguk while the boy quickly backed away from him.

It was a good thing, the star thought, because if Jeongguk hadn’t backed away from him, he’d have surely reached out and swung on the raven-haired boy.

“Now, if I’m not mistaken, this means you have to come with me,” Jeongguk declared. “See, you’re going to be a birthday gift for Blaire, my true love.”

The star laughed dryly at that and sarcastically proclaimed, “but of course! Nothing says "romance” like the gift of a man that’s _half-naked,_ _injured, and kidnapped!“_ He shook his head then, "I’m not going _anywhere_ with you.”

So Jeongguk sighed and plopped down in the dirt just a few feet away from the starboy while he thought of a plan.

Jeongguk had absolutely no idea what he was really getting himself into.


	5. Chapter 5

"Hurry. You should be on your way now, Primus," the royal bishop approached the prince where he was knelt beside his father's casket in the castle's mausoleum. 

The prince in purple glanced up from the floor where he had been mourning, the gold of the crown sitting atop the casket glimmering in his steel blue eyes. 

"You _must_ find the royal necklace before your brothers."  
The bishop spoke in a hushed tone, as he knew that betraying _any_ member of Stormhold's royal family meant immediate execution.

"I should like to see you take the throne; The first benevolent king," the bishop smiled proudly at the younger man. "I don't doubt Stormhold would be a much better place under your rule."

Primus nodded humbly, preparing to agree with the man before a separate voice chimed in from the hall.

"Really?" Septimus sounded intrigued, "well, that is fascinating. Don't you think, Tertius?"

"Yes, indeed," Tertius joined his brothers and the royal bishop in the mausoleum, and Primus finally stood to face them both.

"Prince Septimus! Tertius!" the bishop tried to play it off as if he hadn't just been caught betraying the two younger princes. "Well, since you're all here, won't you join me in a toast?"

With a snap of his fingers, a servant approached with a platter of four golden goblets.

"What a very good idea," Septimus smirked as he lifted a cup from the tray.

"To the new King of Stormhold," the bishop raised his own cup, "whichever of you _fine fellows_ it might be."

"To the new King of Stormhold," the three princes said in unison, and they all took a drink.

Almost immediately afterward, the bishop began to cough and wheeze, gasping for air as he clutched his throat in panic. The three princes watched as he fell dead upon their father's casket.

Instead of deciding how best to deal with his body, the three brothers glared at one another, as if waiting for the next to fall. After a few moments of silence, they began to think they were in the clear, until Tertius placed a hand over his heart and dropped to his knees, collapsing against the marble floor.

"You!" Septimus accused, glaring up at Primus. Before he could get another word out however, Septimus coughed hoarsely, brows furrowing and eyes watering as he was the last to collapse from the poison.

With a surge of pride and realization, Primus moved to lift the King's crown from his father's casket, staring down at the headpiece with a smile even brighter than it's shimmering diamonds.

His fun was ruined however, when Septimus began to laugh from where he was laying on the floor. He clapped his hands together and got to his feet, making Primus set the crown back down with a scowl.

"You really thought that you were king!" Septimus' face was red with how hard he had been laughing at his older, and now _only_ , brother.

"You killed the bishop," Primus seethed.

"No, Primus," Septimus said seriously. "I think you'll find that _you_ killed the bishop by drinking out of the wrong cup."

Primus' brows furrowed and he glanced down at the bishop's body with a deep ache in his heart.

"Oh look, when you finish wresting with your conscience, may I suggest you return to your chamber?" Septimus told him with a tone that was quite condescending. "Leave the quest for the stone to me."

Septimus narrowed his eyes at Primus, as if to say that would be his first and only warning.

With that, the prince in black left to ready himself for the journey ahead, hunting for the King's diamond. 

Meanwhile, several witches also prepared themselves, but for a hunt of their own; The hunt of the fallen star.

**\---**

Jeongguk lay resting, trying his best to sleep against the dirt within the walls of the crater. The silver chain was gripped tightly in his fist, and he became annoyed by the constant movements he felt as the starboy attempted to free his wrist from the restraint.

"Don't you ever sleep?" Jeongguk peaked an eye open to find the man biting at the silver, trying anything to cut the chain somehow.

The star rolled his eyes at that. He knew, from several years of looking down upon them, that humans were pretty dense, but Jeongguk was really starting to take the cake.

"Not at night. It may have escaped your notice, _genius_ , but that's when stars have rather better things to do; Coming out, shining, that sort of thing."

"Yeah well, it may have escaped yours, but you're not in the sky anymore," Jeongguk told him, a bit irritated from both his lack of sleep and the lack of cooperation from the star. Jeongguk didn't even realize the way his words cut the star so deeply. "Coming out is off the agenda, shining has been suspended until further notice, and sleeping during the day is out of the question. Unless you have some magical ability to sleep while you're walking."

"Have you not gotten it into your thick head yet?!" the star snapped, having grown tired of the human's presence as well as his blatant inability to respect supernatural beings. "I'm not _walking_ anywhere!" he said, and even if he wanted to, he couldn't. Not with the searing pain he felt when he tried to place weight upon his ankle.

"Fine." Jeongguk stood then, brushing the dirt from his clothes. "Sit in a crater. I've had enough of you anyway. I was gonna put you back in the sky once I'd brought you to my Blaire, but clearly you'd rather sit on your own in the middle of nowhere forever."

The star stared up at him then and laughed incredulously.   
"And how exactly were you planning to put me back in the sky?"

"I find the fastest way to travel is by candlelight," Jeongguk retrieved what was left of his black candlestick from his coat pocket.

The star's eyes lit up with pleasant surprise, his lips stretching into a wondrous smile at the sight of it.  
"You've got a Babylon candle!"

"Yeah, I have a bubbling candle."

" _Babylon_."

"That's what I said."

"You said bubbling."

" _Anyway_ , I was going to give what's left of it to you," Jeongguk told him, even if he wasn't originally planning to do so. He just needed to give the man a good reason to follow him.

"Well, that _barely_ has one use left," the star said in regards to the shortened-from-use stick of wax, even if he was seriously contemplating accepting Jeongguk's offer.

"So be grateful that I'm not using it right now to get us both back to the wall. Unless you have a better way of getting yourself home."

The starboy clenched his jaw in annoyance before giving in. "Fine! Help me up," he said through gritted teeth, and Jeongguk beamed as he stepped closer to help him onto his feet.

The man winced as he tried his best to walk.

"And you're gonna have to walk quicker than that, otherwise I'll never get you back to Blaire within a week."

"Don't push your luck," the star muttered back.


	6. Chapter 6

Lamia approached a caravan at the river's edge in her goat-drawn cart. An elderly woman sat cooking a rabbit over the fire before her, and a little green hummingbird hovered around behind her, bound to the area by an enchanted chain.

"Who goes there? What do you want with me, a poor old--"

"Oh, do shut up. I know what you are," Lamia rolled her eyes at the fellow witch as she stepped down from the cart, "and I swear by the ordinances of the sisterhood, to which we _both_ belong, that I mean you no harm this day. I wish to share your meal."

"Well, one can never be too careful," the witch replied. "I'll get you a seat," she snapped her fingers, and with a puff of smoke, the hummingbird was now the enslaved princess that Seokjin had encountered many moons ago; Jeongguk's long lost mother.

"Anything else?" the princess asked with a tired expression.

"Nope," the witch snapped her fingers once more, returning the younger woman to her ornithological form. "What's it to be?" she asked Lamia, gesturing to the rabbit that had been roasting over the fire. "Heads or tails?"

"Heads," Lamia smiled, and the older witch got to serving up their meal.

They ate together in peaceful silence, until Lamia was asked, "so, stranger, where are you headed off to on this fine day?"

"I seek a fallen star," Lamia replied in a hushed tone, a wicked smirk on her face. "It fell not far from here.. and when I find it, I shall take my great knife and cut out its heart while it still lives, and the glory of our youth.. shall be restored.." her smile fell once she realized all that she had just revealed.

"Fallen star?" the witch chuckled at that, while Lamia sniffed her plate of food suspiciously, "that's the best news I've heard in ages. I could do with losing a few years myself. So whereabouts did you--"

"Limbus grass!" Lamia threw her plate against the ground, shattering it. "You _dare_ to steal the truth from my lips by feeding me _limbus grass?!_ "

A deep rumble of thunder could be heard in the distance. 

"Do you have any idea what a big mistake you've made, Ditchwater Sal?" 

"How d'you know my--" Sal's brows furrowed.   
"Who are you?"

"Look again," Lamia growled, her face flashing momentarily with something much darker, and far more sinister, than her beautiful façade. 

Sal immediately dropped to her knees before her Queen, begging her for mercy. "I shall not seek the star, Your Dark Majesty. I swear."

"Seek all you wish," Lamia smiled down at her subject and pointed directly at her, preparing to perform an enchantment. "You shall not see the star, touch it, smell or hear it. You will not perceive it even if it stands before you."

Sal's eyes flashed green before returning to their original brown color, her facial expression one of shock and confusion.

Lamia glanced at the back of her own hand, finding that the more magic she used, the more age spots reappeared on her skin. She huffed in annoyance and glared down at the witch before her, "pray you never meet me again, Ditchwater Sal."

**\---**

"So let me get this straight. You think you know we're going the right way because, and I quote, 'I just do'--"

Jeongguk and the star had been walking for hours, currently among the forests of Stormhold. The sun was shining down on them wherever it could reach them within the trees, and the star was growing more and more exhausted as the daylight hours burned.

"I _do_ , though!" Jeongguk said in defense of himself. "I don't know why. Maybe it's my love for Blaire guiding me home."

"Please," the star muttered in disbelief.

"And Taeyang, whether you like it or not--"

" _Taehyung_! My name is _Taehyung_. How many times do I have to--" Taehyung interrupted himself with a cry of pain, having walked on his bad ankle long enough for the adrenaline to wear off, therefore long enough for it to ache horribly again. "Would you _please_ slow down?!"

"Yes! Yes." Jeongguk sighed exasperatedly. "Look we're going north, alright? The wall's north.. a-and if you look up in the sky, even during the day, you can see the--" Jeongguk tried to point out the evening star, but to no avail, as it was no longer shining in the sky as it usually was, "the evening star.." he said in defeat upon realizing it was gone.   
"That's so weird.."

"Funny. Hilarious. My sides are splitting," Taehyung grumbled out and limped over to a massive tree off to the side of the pathway.

"Wait that was.. that was _you_?! Really?" Jeongguk sounded so impressed, Taehyung didn't know whether to feel flattered or offended as he sat down, leaning up against the tree trunk.

"Wait, what are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Taehyung looked up at him with a tired expression. "I'm sitting down. I'm tired."

"Please don't do this again," Jeongguk whined. "We agreed we'd stop at the next village to eat and rest."

" _Come on, Jeongguk,_ " Taehyung let his head fall back against the tree. "It's _midday_! I never stay up this late! Just, _please_ let me sleep."

Jeongguk sighed, but gave in, seeing as how Taehyung looked like he was about ready to cry. "Okay. Well then, you sleep and I'll go and get us something to eat."

With that, Jeongguk began walking a circle around the circumference of the tree, pulling at the silver chain to make it longer before sealing it to itself.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Jeongguk mocked Taehyung's question from earlier. "I'm making sure you don't run away." Then he tugged at the chain for good measure and gave a satisfied nod when it stayed intact.

**\---**

While Taehyung slept, Jeongguk pushed onward towards the next village for food, and Lamia continued her search for the star, prince Septimus and prince Primus raced to find the King's necklace.

Septimus had the advantage of his own personal guards, as well as a head start. His brother trailed several miles behind in his own coach, while Septimus tried anything he possibly could to stay ahead.

"Your Highness. The soothsayer, as you requested," a guard approached Septimus from behind as the prince stared out at the rolling ocean before him. 

"South, you said," Septimus spoke to the soothsayer without even turning to face him, "south we went, and still no stone. Do you now propose we start swimming?"

"Sire, I merely relay to you what the runes have told me. I can do no more."

"Well, consult them again," Septimus commanded, then turned to face the man. A block of ice separating the two of them. "Wait. Before we seek the stone, I have another question. Am I the seventh son?"

The soothsayer shook his runes in his hands before tossing them onto the ice between them. "Yes," he answered after deciphering the symbols engraved upon them.

"Another question," Septimus smiled at him, which was never a good sign when it came to the prince in black. "Is my favorite color blue?"

"Yes," the soothsayer relayed upon tossing the runes again.

"Has excessive begging or pleading ever persuaded me to spare the life of a traitor?"

The runes were tossed again.   
All of them landed blank side up.

"What does that mean?"

"It means no," the soothsayer explained to him.

"Good," Septimus nodded. "Throw them again. This time, throw them high."

The elderly man did as he was told, tossing the runes up in the air as high as he could manage.

As they fell, Septimus stared the soothsayer in the eye and asked, "do you work for my brother?"

When the runes landed and the man said nothing, Septimus understood that his silence meant that he did in fact work for Primus, and that he lead Septimus in the wrong direction on purpose.

In one fluid motion, Septimus pierced his dagger through the man's heart, and snatched the runes from the ice.

"So," Septimus began rather nonchalantly, "do we continue west?"

With a toss of their runes, Septimus and Lamia were pointed in the direction of their deepest desires.

Both unaware of each other, let alone that they were ultimately seeking the same treasure.


	7. Chapter 7

Taehyung woke up a while later, with the moon taking the sun's place to create a beautiful midnight sky.

Small crunches of leaves and twigs nearby had Tae's brows furrowing, and he instinctively looked around at the space in front of him, finding nothing but trees and bushes.

"Jeongguk?" he called out, realizing how rough his voice was, clearing his throat, and trying again. "Who's there?"

More crunches and snaps could be heard, drawing closer and closer to Taehyung who's heart was beginning to pound within his ribcage.

"Jeongguk, is that you? It's not funny," he giggled a little despite his words, but his smile fell when he was met with more crunches. "Jeongguk!" Tae shouted seriously then, fear sitting heavy in his chest.

Moments later, to Taehyung's surprise, a horse slowly approached him, whinnying softly.

"Oh," Taehyung's smile returned to his face as he carefully reached his hands up to draw the horse closer.

Upon doing so, he spotted the sharp, shimmering point of a horn protruding from its head.

The unicorn was well aware of what Taehyung really was, even if it could not speak. It bowed its head and split the chain that held Taehyung captive with its horn, making the starboy laugh happily as he watched the silver dissipate into the night sky.

Then it kneeled before him, encouraging Taehyung to mount its back, which he did without question. With the chain being the only thing tying him to Jeongguk (literally and metaphorically), Taehyung saw no reason why he should have remained there in captivity. 

All he wanted was to return home, and there had to be another Babylon candle _somewhere_ out there, Taehyung was sure of it.

So Taehyung gently rested his head on the unicorn's neck, finding comfort within its warmth, within the softness of its mane, and the pure magic within its very being. 

Taehyung felt at ease for the first time since striking down.

**\---**

"Be careful how much magic you use, sister," Empusa warned her sister. "It's beginning to show."

Lamia rolled her eyes, already mad at herself for using her ring to speak with her sisters through their mirror's reflection back at home.

"A small enchantment," she raised her arm to show off the age spots that had appeared after her run in with Ditchwater Sal. "Hardly extravagant."

"Well, even using the ring will take its toll," Mormo told her. "You'd better call on us only in dire need, and use your runes to locate the star yourself."

"I used them and it should be here!" Lamia replied exasperatedly as she surveyed her surroundings. She was in the middle of absolutely nowhere. "But now they're just telling me gibberish."

Mormo shook her head, and with the slice of a crocodile's belly, they were able to discern why Lamia was having so much trouble.

"It is because you must stay where you are, my sister," Empusa smiled at her, holding up the croc's intestines to show her. "He is coming to you."

Lamia smiled wickedly upon the discovery.

"But be warned, Lamia," Mormo said then. "Delicacy is needed. Misery has drained him," she sighed, "he's barely shining. Set a trap that ensures his heart is _glowing_ before you cut it out!"

**\---**

"You shall become human," Lamia whispered to the pair of goats that had been drawing her cart to and fro on her journey. 

With a flash of green smoke, a middle-aged man and a young woman now stood before her, innocence and curiosity in their eyes. Lamia was sure that this would work perfectly.

She lead them away from the cart before enchanting it, transforming it into a massive lodge, perfect for the weary traveler. Or in this case, perfect for a broken star.

"You are Billy, the innkeeper," Lamia told the man once she'd taken them inside. "I am your wife, and you're our daughter," she told the girl. "Now, make everything ready. Our special guest will be here soon enough."

**\---**

"I mean, who's to say he'd have even kept his promise about the candle?" Taehyung thought aloud as he carefully braided the unicorn's mane. "I just refuse to believe he's the only person in Stormhold who could've helped me."

The unicorn doesn't reply, of course, but Taehyung finds it kind of nice to be able to vent without anyone else's input.

"He just kept going on and on and on.. _'Blaire' this_ and _'Blaire' that_."

**\---**

"Taehyung? Taehyung?!" Jeongguk called out when he returned to the forest the same night to find no sign of the star or the enchanted chain. "Oh, you _idiot_ ," he self-deprecated.

He took a seat on the ground, leaning against the tree how Taehyung had been when he left. He stared up at the moon and wondered where Taehyung was; If he was safe, if he was _dead_.. Jeongguk sincerely hoped that wasn't the case.

Eventually he fell asleep, having exhausted all of his other options, as well as exhausted his body from how much walking he'd been doing.

" _Jeongguk.._ " a lithe voice whispered in what Jeongguk initially thought was a dream. " _Please protect our brother, Jeongguk.. Taehyung is in grave danger.. the unicorn came to help him.. but now they're heading into a trap._ "

Within his dreams, Jeongguk was floating among the stars in space, when a burst of light and energy flashed before him. 

" _No star is safe in Stormhold.._ " the whispers continued. " _The last to fall, 400 years ago, was captured by the same witches who seek Taehyung now.._ "

Dream Jeongguk was suddenly teleported to a crater, similar to the one he found Taehyung. He watched as three elderly witches approached a young man laying in the center of the crater.

He wore the same blue silk he had found Taehyung wearing, despite looking quite different from Taehyung.

His hair was a sterling silver color, he was quite a bit shorter, and he wasn't wearing any sort of jewelry like the necklace Taehyung had been.

" _They tricked Jimin.. they cared for him.._ "

Jeongguk stirred in his sleep as he watched the witches lead the starboy into their home. 

" _..and when his heart was once more aglow.."_

Jimin's entire being was outlined in a silver shimmer as they lay him down on a large glass table. His eyes and smile were lively and bright like the glow of the moon.

He was ethereally beautiful.

Then all at once, his glow disappeared, and a fearful look grew evident in his wide brown eyes. 

A blade was driven through his ribs, ripping a sickening scream from the star's throat as they cut him open like one of their caged animals.

" _..they cut it from his chest and **ate it**.._"

Jeongguk woke suddenly, gasping for air and placing a hand over his heart as if to be sure it was still there. He panted quietly within the darkness of the forest and looked around for any sign of _anything_.

He expected to find someone nearby, playing tricks on him as he slept, but there was nothing. 

Nothing but the whispering voices, encouraging him to rescue Taehyung.

" _There's no time to waste.. a coach is coming.. by any means possible, you must get on it.._ "

Jeongguk stood then, staring up at the stars in the sky as if they would literally point him in the direction he was supposed to go. 

As it turned out, that wouldn't be necessary. Jeongguk could hear the coach approaching now, along with the excitable neighs from its horses.

" _Run._ "

Jeongguk did as he was told and broke into a full on sprint, dodging tree trunks and branches, and jumping over roots in his path towards the coach.

He smiled when he finally spotted it just ahead and to his right, quickly moving to his left. He willed himself to run as fast as he possibly could so it wouldn't pass him.

When he was finally close enough, he jumped in attempts to grab hold, but ended up body slamming the side of it with an 'oof' instead.

Jeongguk fell to the gravel with a groan and the coachman called out, "whoa!" in order to bring the horses and the coach to a halt.

Prince Primus climbed down and walked over to investigate the man on the ground. He drew his sword and quickly held the end of it to Jeongguk's throat.

"If Septimus insists on sending a _boy_ to do a _man's_ job--"

"No, no, no, wait! Please!" Jeongguk shook his head. "I-I don't know a Septimus, I just need a lift. Look at me! I'm unarmed. Please! P-Please, let me ride with you."

Primus returned his blade to its sheath and shook his head, "I'm afraid that's impossible." He turned to walk back to the coach then, having discerned that Jeongguk wasn't a threat. "I'm on a quest of enormous importance."

"Well then, all the more reason to take me with you!" Jeongguk insisted after quickly getting to his feet. "There may come a time when you need a second pair of hands. Sir?"

Primus climbed up onto the coach, taking a seat and grabbing hold of the reigns once again. 

"Please. Maybe providence sent me to you just as it sent you to me," Jeongguk pleaded from where he had climbed onto the ladder Primus had just scaled.

The royal bishop and his kind words flashed in Primus' mind, thunder rumbled on in the distance, and those were the only reasons Primus decided to tell him, "get on."

Primus figured the boy was lucky he ran into him and not his brother, for Septimus would have simply killed him the moment he stepped down from his coach.

"Oh, yes, thank you!" Jeongguk climbed the rest of the way up and sat beside Primus, completely unaware of the older man's royal status.

With a quick snap of the reigns, the coach was off, and the pair drew further south towards the wall.

Jeongguk could only hope that they were going in the right direction, and that Taehyung, wherever he was, was going to be okay.


	8. Chapter 8

"Oh, goodness, my dear! Come in out of this wretched rain!"

Taehyung stood before Lamia, soaked from head to toe by the storm that had rolled in on his journey via unicorn.

He had no idea where it was taking him, but he knew it meant him no harm, and he trusted that wherever he ended up, he'd be able to find someone to help him.

The woman in the doorway of an inn before him seemed pretty promising. Her smile was as kind as her eyes that held concern in them as she looked him over.

Taehyung glanced back at the unicorn then, unsure of whether it would leave him or choose to stay. 

"We have food and drink, a warm bed, and plenty of hot water for a bath," Lamia encouraged Taehyung inside, placing a hand on his bicep.

As he walked inside, Lamia glared back at the unicorn before immediately closing the door behind them.

"How do you like your bath?" she asked Taehyung after she had given him a brief tour of the building. "Warm, hot, or boil-a-lobster?"

Taehyung thought for a moment, and having never taken a bath before, he shrugged and said, "I honestly don't know.."

"Then let me choose for you, and I'll have my husband take your horse to the stable," Lamia assured him, gently brushing Taehyung's wet, sandy brown hair out of his eyes. 

"Billy?" she called for the goat man and he made a bleating sound in response, causing Lamia to sigh in annoyance as he walked outside to tend to the unicorn.

"Now, let's get you out of your wet things, shall we?" she looked toward her fake daughter, the goat girl, to undress the starboy.

Taehyung stood still, raising a brow when the girl smirked, eyeing his chest, then his abs, before sliding her hands down Taehyung's arms and finally stripping the wet blue fabric down and off his legs.

Lamia led him to the bath she had prepared for him, helped him step into the steaming water, and smiled brightly because of the way he hummed contently once he was finally laying down. 

"Feeling better?" Lamia asked, swirling her index fingertip in the water by his feet. She had seen the way he winced as he limped across the threshold, and immediately discerned that he had injured his ankle at some point, most likely upon impact with the earth.

Nothing a minor healing spell couldn't help.

"Much. Thank you," Taehyung nodded politely, sinking in until his entire body, minus his head, was submerged. "The warmth's actually done me a world of good."

"You see?" she said, pulling her finger from the water. "The powers of a nice, hot bath. And your leg? Any improvement?"

As Taehyung lifted his leg out of the water to examine it, he found no sort of pain in doing so as he usually would have.

"That is _extraordinary_..." Taehyung's brows raised, so pleasantly impressed by the discovery that he hadn't even noticed the dim golden shimmer beginning to spread around his entire being.

Lamia couldn't help the massive smile on her face upon watching him glow. Though she had seen stars glow much brighter than that in the past. She'll just have to work a little harder to make him really shine.

"It's the very least I could do," she told him. "I'm just glad you're feeling better. You seem happier in yourself, too."

"I do feel happier. Less troubled," he nodded in agreement, glowing a tiny bit brighter when he mentally compared this experience to being chained to a tree.

"Wonderful," Lamia nodded. "Nothing like a nice soak to warm a broken heart."

Before his fingertips could prune, Lamia ordered the goat girl to fetch a towel and after Taehyung had been properly dried off, Lamia wrapped him in a warm robe and led him upstairs to a bedroom they had prepared for him.

"Now, I'm only a simple innkeeper's wife, but I've been told that I have a healer's hands," Lamia drew the blankets back, folding them neatly at the foot of the bed in order for him to be able to lay down. "I'd be glad to give you a massage."

"What's a massage?" Taehyung asked curiously, though the golden glimmer around his being was still as bright as it was before.

"You've never had--? Well, bless my soul," Lamia pretended to be shocked; Acting being something she'd had centuries to practice and perfect. "Nothing like a massage to send you off for the finest and deepest night's sleep."

"I do have trouble sleeping at night," Taehyung told her honestly.

"Lie on your back, dear," she gestured toward the bed and he did as he was told. "Why not close your eyes? You'll drift off better that way," Lamia placed a gentle hand on his soft cheek and Taehyung let his eyelids flutter closed.

Lamia gently parted his robe to reveal his chest and made sure his eyes stayed closed, for all she had to do now, was reach below the bed for the knife she'd hidden away.

Before she could make any sort of move however, there was a pounding knock on the inn's front door, followed by a male voice. "Hello! Service!"

"Maybe we should carry on and try the next inn," Jeongguk suggested from where he'd been told to watch the horses. The rain poured down on him hard, making his teeth chatter as he held onto the reigns of the leading horses. "Especially if this stone of yours is as close as your runes say!"

"I'll give it one more try!" Primus replied, knocking once again.

"Relax here, love," Lamia told Taehyung, "I'll be back just as soon as I've taken care of this customer."

Billy opened the door first however, staring out at the wet prince in purple with a blank expression.

"At last," Primus greeted politely, "we require accommodation. Please help my friend take the horses to the stables."

Billy bleated, and did as told, exiting the inn to help Jeongguk, while Primus stepped inside, closing the door behind himself and taking a good look at his surroundings.

From the kitchen downstairs, Lamia slipped a small vial from between her breasts, popped the cork, and poured the poisonous contents of it into a tankard of wine. 

Primus spotted the bathtub in the corner with warm water already drawn, and smiled at the sight, making his way over and undressing. He sighed of exhaustion as he sank into the tub and let his head rest against the back of it.

Without being able to sleep during the night, and curiosity getting the best of him, Taehyung stood from his bed and wandered down the hallway to the stairs. As he slowly descended them, he noticed the man in the bathtub and paused at the bottom of the steps.

"Ah!" Primus spotted Taehyung, "I'm accustomed to better service, but you're awake now and that's what counts. Prepare your best room."

"I'll thank you not to bother my guest, sir," Lamia suddenly approached with the poisoned tankard on a tray. "I am the lady of this inn. Glass of wine?"

Primus glanced at the cup, considered it for a moment, but sighed out a, "no." He then explained, "until my brother is dead, I have vowed to drink only my own wine."

Primus leaned forward slightly in order to look at Taehyung. "Though my friend in the stables might be glad of a drop," he said and clenched his jaw in annoyance as Lamia casually stepped to the side and blocked his view of the starboy. "Your best room perhaps?" Primus raised his brows at her expectantly.

"Of course," Lamia nodded, handing the tray off to the goat girl and nodding her head in the direction of the stables, before leaving to prepare a room for Primus. The girl immediately moved to bring the poisoned tankard outside to Jeongguk, and Taehyung and Primus were left alone once more.

"I'm sorry. I presumed that--" Primus began to apologize, but Taehyung just shook his head with a kind smile as if to tell him not to worry about it. "Traveling alone, are you?" Primus asked the younger man, making conversation. "I've just stabled my four black stallions and my carriage. Well, I say mine, but it belonged to my late father."

Outside in the stables, Jeongguk watched a young woman approach him with a drink. When she handed it off to him, he smiled brightly and nodded a sweet, "thank you. That's so kind, thank you very much. My name's Jeongguk. What's yours?"

The goat girl made a bleating noise in response before walking off, leaving Jeongguk alone to raise a questioning brow.

He raised the tankard to his lips, but just before the liquid could grace his tongue, the gate of the barn was bursting open, and in charged a unicorn of all creatures.

Jeongguk's eyes widened as it rushed towards him, and he was quick to drop the cup and dive out of the way before he could be trampled.

He landed in a pile of hay and quickly turned back to assess what had just happened. The unicorn raised its front leg, extending its hoof as if pointing to the ground beside Jeongguk. When he took the hint and looked, Jeongguk's brows furrowed furiously as he noticed the way the liquid that had spilled from his cup was eating away at anything it touched like acid.

"There was not a horse or beast he could not master," Primus continued to brag about his father to Taehyung, who was standing there with a flat expression, no longer glowing as he was before. "So much so that in his youth, he took to riding a camel, which was comical. When he passed, the carriage came to me. It's the largest in all of Stormhold, so they say."

"How nice for you," Taehyung smiled at the arrogant man with pursed lips before pointing his thumb behind himself, "if you'll excuse me."

"Wait!" Primus called out to him, catching the glint of the diamond hanging around Taehyung's neck. It was a wonder that it took him so long to finally notice it. "That stone you're wearing... it can't be."

Taehyung glanced down at the necklace then, having forgot he was even wearing it after all this time.

"Come here. Let me see it," Primus reached a hand out towards him, his tone gravely serious. "You have no idea what you're meddling with. I am Primus, the first born Prince of Stormhold, and I demand that you bring it to me!"

Taehyung's brows furrowed incredulously, unsure of what exactly he should do in that moment as the prince shouted at him, and Lamia descended the steps with her great knife.

"Bring me the stone! _Now_!"

"Prince Primus!" Jeongguk suddenly barged in, voice high with concern. "Don't touch anything they give you! They tried to--!"

Before he could get another word out, Lamia marched up behind the prince and sliced his throat while Jeongguk and Taehyung watched in absolute horror.

As a man of royal lineage, his blood ran blue down his chest and into the water.

"Jeongguk!" Taehyung called from behind him, making the boy turn and raise his brows in surprise.

"Taehyung!" he rushed over to the star, reaching for his hands, "are you alright?"

Taehyung quickly nodded, heart racing and threatening to beat out of his chest. 

He never thought he'd be so happy to see Jeongguk again.

"Billy!" Lamia called out to her fake husband. " _Get him_!"

As Billy charged Jeongguk, the unicorn charged Billy from outside, head-butting him into the wall with such strength, Lamia's enchantment was knocked from his body, and Billy resumed his original goat form.

The unicorn stood tall on its hind legs in front of Jeongguk and Taehyung, warning the witch away from them with a shrill whinny.

Green flames shot from Lamia's fingertips as she pointed directly at the unicorn, scowling deeply as she burned it alive.

Taehyung had to look away. 

And he had to get out of there. _Fast_.

He grabbed Jeongguk's arm and quickly encouraged him towards the front door, their only escape.

Before they could reach it however, Lamia pointed to the door with her opposite hand, separating the young men from their escape.

Lamia encased them within a parted sea of flame, and they stepped back as she stepped closer and closer, with her long knife as sharp as a cat's claw in her grip. "The burning heart of a golden star at peace is so much better than your frightened little heart. Even so, better than no heart at all."

Taehyung gasped when his back met the stone wall behind them and Jeongguk became the only barrier between the witch and the star. Taehyung gripped into the soaking fabric of Jeongguks coat, eyes wide with fear as he peered at the witch over the boy's shoulder.

Jeongguk quickly thought on his feet, glancing around them for anything they could possibly use to their advantage, but the stone wall behind them and the flames to either side of them were their only surroundings.

He reached into his pocket, and suddenly found an idea.

"Taehyung?" Jeongguk stared at the witch as he slipped what was left of his Babylon candle from his coat, gripping it tightly in his fist.

"Hm?" Taehyung whined fearfully, eyes brimmed with tears.

"Hold me tight and think of home," Jeongguk rushed out.

Taehyung immediately wrapped his arms around Jeongguk's chest, closing his wet eyes and hiding his face between Jeongguk's shoulder blades.

In the next second, Jeongguk shoved his fist directly into the wall of flame to their right, shouting out due to the searing pain he felt as he simultaneously burned the wick of the Babylon candle.

Lamia lunged forward to pierce her knife through Jeongguk's chest. Luckily they had disappeared with a flash of light before she could manage to do so, leaving the witch to scream and wallow in her defeat.


	9. Chapter 9

When Taehyung and Jeongguk finally opened their eyes, they found that they were stood upon a raincloud with thousands of feet between them and the kingdom of Stormhold below.

"What the hell did you do?!" Jeongguk looked at Taehyung, both of them completely drenched in the heavy downpour.

"What did _I_ do?! What did _you_ do?!" Taehyung countered, a bolt of lightning striking just a few meters away from them. "Think of _home_?! What a great plan!" he shouted sarcastically. "You thought _your_ home, and I thought of _mine_ , and now we're _halfway between the two_!!!"

"Oh, you stupid cow! What did you think of _your_ home for?!"

"You just said " _home_!" If you wanted me to think of _your_ home, you should have _said_!" Taehyung continued before taking a step back and losing his balance. Jeongguk reached forward to grab Taehyung's hand, keeping him steady so he wouldn't fall to the valley below.

He only broke his ankle the first time he fell, but he might not be so lucky the second time.

Jeongguk shook that unpleasant thought from his head and replied incredulously, "some crazy lady was going to cut your heart out and you wanted more specific instructions?! Perhaps you'd like it in writing?! Or a diagram maybe?!"

In the next instant, they both fall to their hands and knees with matching yelps of surprise as a massive fishing net had been tossed over them.

They're pulled up onto the deck of a ship; A floating pirate ship. Jeongguk was beginning to think he'd seen it all, yet he didn't even know the half of it.

Several scraggly men stare down at their catch.

"Look, Captain Jung! Caught ourselves a little bonus!" one of them called out. "A couple of Lightning Marshals!"

Suddenly an older brunette man made his way to the front of the crew, brows furrowed and voice strong over the piercing sounds of the storm. "They don't look like Lightning Marshals to me."

"Why else would anyone be up here in the middle of a storm?" another crew member rebutted.

"Well, let's think. Maybe for the same godforsaken reason _we_ are!" the captain glanced around at his men before looking back down at Taehyung and Jeongguk. "Now, who are you?"

Neither one knew what they should have said. What if these pirates were hunting the star just as the witch had been?

"Let's see if a night in our lovely brig will loosen their lips!" Captain Jung sighed.

"You heard the man! Get them into the brig and the rest of you dirty dogs, back to work! We've got lightning to catch!"

**\---**

"They're going to kill us, aren't they?" Taehyung sniffled from below in the brig, where he'd been sat, tied back to back and wrist to wrist with Jeongguk.

"I don't know..." Jeongguk said honestly, sounding quite calm despite the anxiety sitting heavy in his chest.

"You know, it's funny. I used to watch--" Taehyung's voice broke so he took a deep breath and started again, "I used to watch people having adventures. I _envied_ them."

Jeongguk managed to smile at that, and even if Taehyung couldn't see it, he could hear it in his voice. "You ever heard the expression "be careful what you wish for?""

"What? So ending up with my heart cut out will serve me right, will it?" Taehyung sobbed.

"No. No, I didn't--" Jeongguk sighed quietly. "I didn't mean it like that."

Taehyung just shook his head and tried his best to quit crying. He hated feeling weak, especially here in front of Jeongguk.

"I admire you dreaming," Jeongguk told him honestly. "A shop boy like _me_? I could never have imagined an adventure this big in order to have wished for it. I just thought I'd find some lump of celestial rock, take it home, and that would be it..."

Taehyung giggled a little at that, despite the tears slipping down his cheeks. "And you got _me_."

They both took a moment to laugh together about the whole ordeal. They figured if they were about to die, they might as well make the best of the time they had left.

"If there's one thing I've learned in all my years watching Earth, it's that people aren't what they may seem," Taehyung thought aloud. "There are shop boys, and there are boys who just happen to work in shops for the time being... and trust me, you're no shop boy."

Jeongguk felt his cheeks heat up with a blush. _Finally_ someone believed that he was worth more than the shop he worked at, and there they were, most likely about to die. 

It was quite typical of his luck, if you asked Jeongguk.  
Maybe the glass snowdrop flower only worked for his father.

Either way, Jeongguk is pulled from his thoughts when he feels cold fingers intertwine with his own.

"You saved my life, Jeongguk," Taehyung's voice was so soft as he squeezed Jeongguk's hand in his own, "thank you."

**\---**

"Well, well, well," Septimus smirked as he stared down at his brother's lifeless body, sitting in a tub full of his own royal blue blood. "The last brother is dead..." then, with his eyes widening in realization, "which means that I'm king..."

He walks back toward his guards with his shoulders cocked and his head held high. "I'm king!" he announced, to which each guard knelt down before him respectfully. Then he glanced to their coach and sighed, remembering what they originally set out on a quest for, "damn it. I still need the stone."

"Your brother doesn't have it?" a guard asked upon returning to his feet.

"Well, why don't you find out?"

As the guard moved to do so, Septimus jumped when he felt a hand grasping at his shoulder. He immediately pulled his sword and held it to the throat of the young goat girl that had been hiding behind the coach until then.

"Where is my stone?" Septimus seethed, grabbing her by the sleeve of her dress.

"I--" she began, breathing quickly. "The-The man! Your brother. I-I heard him speak of a stone! The boy had it! The boy had it!"

"What boy?" Septimus' brows furrowed.

"I-I don't know, a boy! He got away! This was a trap set up for him..." she gestured to the inn that now lay in shambles of stone and wood in the field behind them, "but your brother came straight into it."

"A trap? Set by who?"

"A woman you should pray you'll never meet," she replied, eyes wide with fear as she looked the prince in the eye. "Sh-She's gone. She took your brother's carriage."

"This woman wanted _my_ stone?" Septimus asked her, seething.

"No, she wanted the boy. She wanted his heart!" she shook her head, "she said the boy was a star and that she was going to cut out his heart and--"

"--eat it," Septimus thought aloud. "My God," he said in realization. "Do you have any idea what this means?"

The goat girl shook her head with a quiet, nervous bleat.

"Everlasting life," Septimus answered himself. "King _forever_..."

"It's not here, sire!" the guard by Primus' body announced, shaking the water from his hand before slipping his glove back on.

"This woman is coming with us," Septimus replied, holding the girl's bicep in his firm grip, making her whimper as he tugged her along towards the coach.

**\---**

"Ask again," Lamia demanded of her sisters, having used her ring to speak with them within their mirror once again. 

After the episode with the star at the inn, Lamia's body was looking worse for wear. Her skin was once again wrinkled and spotted, her hair was falling out in chunks, and her smile was no longer bright and lively.

"We have asked again," Empusa replied exasperatedly. "The answer is still the same! He is airborne!"

"Well he can't remain so forever. Inform me as soon as he touches ground! _Immediately_! Do you understand?!"

"Watch your tongue, sister! It is _you_ and not _we_ who've lost him!" Mormo scolded their youngest sister.

"Lost him and broken your knife," Empusa snarked. "Even if you apprehend him, how will you complete the deed?"

"Perhaps you should return now, and one of us set out in your place," Mormo suggested.

"Don't be absurd!" Lamia glared between the two of them. "I'll bring him home and deal with him there. Be sure everything is ready for our arrival."

**\---**

"Tell me about Blaire, then."

The night had since become day when Taehyung began a simple conversation. Nobody had come down to the brig to retrieve (or, you know, kill) them yet, and normally Taehyung would be tired by then, but having been stuck in the same position for hours, he hadn't been able to burn off any sort of energy.

Jeongguk was taken aback by the question, not expecting to have been asked about Blaire. If he was being honest with himself, he'd completely forgotten about her existence since he'd found Taehyung again, and he hadn't even noticed until Taehyung asked about her.

"Well, she..." Jeongguk started, but he had no idea what to say in continuation. Taehyung waited expectantly for a response, but Jeongguk simply said, "there's nothing more to tell you."

And it wasn't that he didn't want to speak of her, or that he didn't want to tell Taehyung about her, it was simply just the _truth_. 

He had no knowledge of what the girl was actually like aside from the fact that he had been incredibly attracted to her. No one had ever asked him why, so he never asked himself why, and now, thanks to Taehyung, he's finally discovered that he may not like her as much as he originally thought he did.

Taehyung nodded, accepting that answer before explaining why he asked about her in the first place, "because the little bit that I know about love... is that it's unconditional. It's not something you can _buy_."

"Hang on," Jeongguk scoffed. "This wasn't about me buying her love. This was a way for me to prove how I felt."

"Ah," Taehyung nodded, "and what's _she_ doing to prove how she feels about _you_?"

"Well--" Jeongguk began, feeling defensive even if he didn't know why. The lack of an answer _was_ Taehyung's answer. "Look, Taehyung, you'll understand when you meet her, alright? Provided we don't get murdered by pirates first."

"Murdered by pirates..." Taehyung thought aloud, tilting his head to the side. "Heart torn out and eaten..." he tilted his head the other way, as if deciding between his options, "meet Blaire... I can't quite decide which sounds more fun."


	10. Chapter 10

"We've located the sky vessel. It's headed north for the port town on Mount Diamond, and you are no longer the one seeking the star!" Mormo told Lamia's reflection in their mirror, "there's someone following your tracks!"

"A witch? A warlock?" Lamia guessed.

"A _prince_ , and he's quickly catching you up! Get a move on!"

**\---**

"So, this is the part where you tell me who you are and why you're up here," Captain Jung spoke down to Jeongguk and Taehyung down in the brig, "or I'll snap his pretty little fingers one by one like dry twigs!" he said in reference to Taehyung.

Members of his crew were pressed against the door outside, listening intently and laughing in amusement as their captain interrogated their captors.

"My name is Jeongguk," the young man said quietly, not looking the captain in the eye. "This is my fiancé Taehyung."

"Your _fiancé_?" Captain Jung gaped, and both of them were prepared for the man to belittle them for their sexuality, but it didn't happen. He just walked over and lifted Taehyung's chin with his index finger, "far too young and radiant to belong to just one man. It's share and share alike aboard my vessel, boys!"

The crew could be heard cheering in agreement outside, making Taehyung's head snap toward the sound of it.

"If you _dare_ even touch him..." Jeongguk glared up at the captain, leaving the threat open ended as if to show there was no limit to what he'd do if he hurt Taehyung.

"You may think you're showing some spirit in front of your little boy toy, but if you talk back to me again, I'll feed your tongue to the dogs, you impertinent little pup!"

Jeongguk clenched his jaw in annoyance. "Sir?"

"Better!" Captain Jung smiled. "But still interrupting. Let's see... a hanging's always good for morale! Maybe we'll watch you dance a gallows jig!"

His crew cheered once again at the idea.

"Or perhaps I'll just tip you over the side and be _done_ with it! It's a very long way down. Plenty of time to reminisce about your pitifully short lives."

"Please, look, we're just trying to make our way home--" Jeongguk pleaded with the man, Taehyung staring up at the captain with wide eyes, "back to a place called Wall, where I'm from."

"What did you just say?" Captain Jung spat, brows furrowed and arms crossing.

"I said we were trying to get home to Wall--"

Then there was a knife at Jeongguk's throat, making him clench his jaw, and Taehyung whimper quietly.

The crew listened on expectantly, waiting for any sign of their captain torturing and/or killing their captives.

"That's one lie too many, son. Thought you could just _wander_ onto my patch, did you?! And live to tell the tale?! Big mistake! And the last one you'll ever make!"

The crew rushed back on deck then, looking overboard just in time to watch their captain toss a body overboard through a hatch below deck.

What they didn't know, was that their captain had actually freed their captives, and now that the entire crew had been distracted, Jeongguk made his way out of the brig and silently slipped over to the captain's quarters.

Captain Jung looked up to glare harshly at his crew, all of which immediately removed themselves from his line of sight, returning to their duties on deck just as Jeongguk had shut the cabin door behind himself.

"You murderer!!" Taehyung shrieked while Captain Jung dragged him out of the brig and along the deck. "You _pig_!!"

"I'm taking this boy to my cabin, and mark my words, anyone who disturbs me for the next few hours will get the same treatment!" the captain announced.

"What? You'll...?" a crew member raised a concerned brow at him.

"No, you _idiot_ , I'll sling you over the side as well!"

"Right," the member said, closing the door behind their captain and leaning against it. He looked at the rest of the crew that was staring back at him. "Captain's busy, so should you be."

After leading Taehyung below deck and into his cabin, he closed and locked the door behind them before sighing to himself in relief.

"So, that went well, I think," Captain Jung smiled over at Taehyung, then over at Jeongguk who had been stood by the windows, sipping tea from a little cup as he watched the captain throw a dummy overboard. 

Taehyung didn't know why he blushed when he first saw Jeongguk again, it just sort of happened.

He was in nothing but his undergarments, a white cotton shirt and tan undershorts, because Captain Jung had dressed the dummy in his clothing in order to deceive his crew.

"Now, tell me news of my beloved Wall," the captain reached for Taehyung's hand and gently led him over to a tea table by the windows. "I want to hear absolutely everything."

"Hang on," Taehyung shook his head, trying to wrap his head around what just happened as Jeongguk joined them at the table. "I can't believe your crew fell for that! And where in God's name did you get that mannequin from?"

"Oh, it works every time," the captain chuckled heartily, shaking his head modestly. "An ounce of bargaining, a pinch of trickery, a soupçon of intimidation, et voila! The perfect recipe for a towering reputation without ever having to spill one drop of blood. Ever try to get blood stains out of a silk shirt? _Nightmare._ "

Jeongguk and Taehyung were taken aback and skeptical when the captain had first told them of his plan to keep them alive, but as the three of them were finally alone below deck, it appeared as though he really was as benevolent as he was letting on.

"Right," Jeongguk nodded, then thought about it for a moment. "I still don't understand how they won't recognize me..."

"Jeongguk, dear boy, when I'm done with you, your own mother won't even recognize you," Captain Jung assured him. "Now we have no time to waste. We have only two hours before we make port. First and foremost..." the captain stood from the table then and marched over to a pair of doors at the side of the cabin.

Upon opening them, a walk in closet full of expensive clothes had been revealed.

"It will be so good to see you out of those dreary clothes," the captain explained as he led them inside.

He flipped through quite a few hangers before snatching a few of them off the rack and holding them up in front of Jeongguk. "This is _very_ you. I wore it as a younger man," he explained as he handed them to the boy, "I hate to throw anything away."

Jeongguk accepted the clothes with a gracious bow, but the captain waved it off as if to say it wasn't necessary.

"Now you, I have many more lovely suits. Take your pick," the captain turned to Taehyung.

"Oh no, really, I'm fine," Taehyung shook his head modestly.

"Honey, you're wearing a bathrobe," Captain Jung told him.

He and Jeongguk smiled fondly when Taehyung immediately moved to look through his, seemingly endless, options.

"Now, Wall, Wall, Wall. I want to hear everything," the captain turned to help Jeongguk.

He stood in front of the mirror at the opposite end of the closet, having already pulled on the black pants and white button down he'd been handed. Jeongguk admired the way the clothes seemed to be a perfect fit, unlike his father's hand-me-downs, that were appreciated no doubt, but also two times too big for his son.

"You're not from Wall," Jeongguk pointed out with a chuckle.

"Oh, no, no," the captain shook his head, "but from my earliest youth, I lapped up the stories. People always told me that they were nothing more than folklore, but my heart told me they were true. As a boy I would scurry away from my father at the market while he did his deals just to peek over the wall. I dreamed of perhaps crossing it one day, seeing Wall for myself."

"Really?" Jeongguk asked, "so you were here looking over there."

He says it with such amazement in his eyes and his voice, because everyone he knew in Wall was _dying_ to cross over into Stormhold, so it was quite ironic to discover that there were people in Stormhold wishing they could cross over into Wall.

"Oh, yes," the captain nods. Then he suddenly pointed to Jeongguk's head, "hair."

"Hair?" Jeongguk stared at his own reflection, and having never changed the way his hair looked, he feared he'd end up looking quite ridiculous.

Despite that fear, he still followed the older man out of the walk in.

"I did my best to fit in," the captain had been telling Jeongguk his life story when Taehyung had finally finished changing and joined them in the main area of the cabin. "I tried to make my father proud. I forged a decent reputation as a ruthless marauder and cold-blooded killer," the captain rolled his eyes at that. "But my father died, and I always promised him that I'd take over the family business, keep the old girl flying."

Captain Jung sighed happily, "you have no idea the lightness it brings to my heart being able to confide in you _charming_ young people. The pressure of maintaining the whole Captain Jung persona for the crew?" he shook his head in disgust at the thought of what he had been doing for as long as he can remember.

"I don't understand that," Jeongguk spoke up, "surely it would make you happier just to be yourself. Why fight to be accepted by people you don't actually want to be like?"

Taehyung figured Jeongguk couldn't really be one to talk.

"Yeah," he nodded in agreement, sipping from his cup of tea and staring directly at Jeongguk, "why would anyone do that to himself?"

"Exactly..." Jeongguk mumbled, biting into his bottom lip as he let Taehyung's question repeat in his mind.


	11. Chapter 11

"Port ahoy!" a crew member shouted as the airship approached a steep cliff and slowly came to a halt beside it, hovering still as the plank was dropped, connecting the ship to land. "Ready the lightning barrels!"

"Hurry up!" Captain Jung ordered as he led his crew off of the ship with only Taehyung in tow; The star was now dressed in clothes of baby blue and cream with the King's diamond still resting beautifully beneath his collarbones.

The captain had asked Jeongguk to stay aboard the ship until they returned from their dealing. This way, when they did return, they could pretend Jeongguk was someone else entirely who had boarded the ship while they weren't on board.

So Taehyung stood alone, even in the company of the entire crew, while Captain Jung went about his deal within the office of a long-time business partner.

"Doesn't seem very fresh, I'll be honest," their potential buyer, Ferdinand, quipped. He had just briefly opened the metal barrel of lightning to peek inside, but not long enough to let any of it strike.

"Shall I give you a little taste, young Ferdinand?" the captain asked casually, reaching for a scroll case from his first mate.

"No--"

Before the man could get another word out, Captain Jung slipped the end of the case open, releasing a single lightning strike into the wall beside them and knocking down one of Ferdinand's many rare vases that had been resting on a shelf.

"Brilliant. Like they're cheap," Ferdinand muttered sarcastically after watching it shatter on the ground.

"I think it's still crackling," the captain shrugged with a smug smile, "very much alive and fresh. So, name your best price."

"For 10,000 bolts?"

"10,000 bolts of finest quality, grade A."

"Yeah, but it's difficult to move isn't it? Difficult to store? And if I get the revenue men in here sniffing around, it's gonna be pretty bad," Ferdinand thought aloud, then decided, "best price, 150 coins."

"Gentlemen, put the merchandise back onboard and prepare to sail," Captain Jung told his crew without much of a care as to whether or not Ferdinand wanted to buy from him. "Ferdinand, always a pleasure."

He reached to shake the man's hand, but Ferdinand held onto it momentarily, "whoa, whoa, hang on. 160."

"Seeing as I'm feeling particularly generous today," the captain sighed, "I'll settle for 200."

"200? Okay, you're having a laugh," Ferdinand laughed at him. "Have you had your head in that?" he gestured to the barrel of lightning on the floor between them, then asked his crew, "has he been sailing up where the air's too thin?"

Taehyung didn't know any of these men very well, but he knew for a fact that he wasn't fond of Ferdinand.

"You're being very rude," Captain Jung said monotonously. "200."

"180."

"200."

"That's not negotiation," Ferdinand shook his head at the captain's noncompliance. "I'm actually changing my number. 185."

"Did I hear 200?"

"From _you_ , you did, yeah."

"You said 200," the captain raised a brow at the man.

"If I did, you're a ventriloquist," Ferdinand sighed, then decided, "okay, 195. Final offer."

"195 it is," Captain Jung reached to shake the man's hand, "and with tax that's, let's see, _200_."

"Brilliant," Ferdinand rolled his eyes at the man, annoyed that he'd been outsmarted by him. "Put it in the back," he told the crew, to which two men moved to lift the barrel and do so.

Ferdinand led Captain Jung a few feet away to speak with him privately, and Taehyung followed along because when they stepped off of the airship, the captain had told him to stay close.

"Yes? Can I help you?" Ferdinand asked Taehyung quite rudely, then muttered, "nosey."

He furrowed his brows at the man's blatant rudeness, but took a few steps back anyways. Captain Jung shot him an apologetic look and Taehyung just sighed to himself. He wished he could've just stayed on the ship with Jeongguk, but he had to help the captain maintain his reputation.

"Have you heard any of these rumors going around about a fallen star?" Ferdinand asked and Taehyung swallowed thickly. "Everyone's talking about it."

Even if none of them knew it was him, Taehyung still couldn't help the fearful feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. 

"You get your hands on one of them, we can shut up shop and retire," Ferdinand said. 

"A fallen star?" Captain Jung raised a curious brow at that, glancing back at Taehyung.

They briefly made eye contact, Taehyung looking like a deer caught in headlights, and the captain's eyes flashing with something Taehyung couldn't really decipher.

He shook his head in response to Ferdinand.

"Nothing on your travels?" the man asked.

"No," Captain Jung replied.

"Not even a little sniff or whisper? _Everyone's_ going on about it down at the market."

"Which market?" the captain asked, "the market near the wall?"

This market being the place a young Seokjin once met Jeongguk's mother.

"Yeah," Ferdinand nodded.

"Well, Ferdy, you're wasting your time listening to gossip from the pond scum trading down there."

"Well, if it--"

"Oh, my word! Speak of the devil," Captain Jung interrupted as Ditchwater Sal approached the two men.

"Oh, yeah? What were you saying, then?" she asked, an unamused expression on the witch's wrinkled face.

"Oh, just what a wonderful woman you are, Sal. How the world wouldn't be the same place without you," the captain lied straight to her face. "But you two have business to attend to. Sal, Ferdy. Good day."

With that, Captain Jung left the pair to converse and returned to his waiting crew. With a gentle hand around the back of his bicep, he led Taehyung and his men back to the airship.

Upon setting foot onboard, the crew was met with none other than Jeongguk, who was resting rather nonchalantly against a pile of rope, boxes, and netting in the center of the deck.

His hair had been cut, colored black, and parted to the side, showing off his forehead and one of two striking brows.  
The clothes he'd been gifted by the captain fit almost perfectly on him, and it made a world of a difference to his physique when compared to his father's hand-me-downs.

"Captain Jung," Jeongguk hummed, arms crossed over his chest with a smirk on his face.

The crew moved to draw their swords and eliminate who they saw as a threat, but the captain ordered them to, "stand down!"

He stepped closer to Jeongguk and pulled him onto his feet.

"Meet my nephew Jeongguk, the fearsome buccaneer. He'll be joining us for our journey home," Captain Jung informed them before he looked at Jeongguk once more. "I have the perfect gift to keep you amused along the way."

The captain held a hand out toward Taehyung, who glanced around and noticed everyone staring at him then.

He anxiously accepted Captain Jung's hand and let himself be led to Jeongguk's side with blood-flushed cheeks.

When they were in the brig, Jeongguk had told the captain that they were together. So Jeongguk, playing the part, wrapped an arm around Taehyung's waist, making the star squeak quietly in surprise as the crew laughed at him.

"Lets get young Jeongguk back home!" Captain Jung declared, to which the airship was immediately prepped and sent on it's way.

The way to Wall.

Captain Jung taught them many valuable things on the remainder of their journey. 

Jeongguk brushed up on his fencing skills, adapting movements and learning much faster now that he had such a dedicated and compassionate teacher.

The day Jeongguk had managed to steal the captain's sword from his hand, holding both blades to the older man's throat like a pair of scissors, was the day Captain Jung decided the boy was ready to take on a real fight someday.

Taehyung spent most of his time in Captain Jung's cabin, fingertips pressed to the ivory keys of the captain's piano, and warm, deep voice filling the space below deck with melodious sound.

One of Jeongguk's favorite parts of the trip, and arguably one of Taehyung's favorites as well, was the day they captured lightning together.

They'd been dressed in thick raincoats, boots, and safety goggles to shield their eyes from the brightness of the electricity.

It was just another ordinary day of work for the members of Captain Jung's crew, but it brought warmth and amusement to their hearts to witness the pair trying something so daring and extraordinary to them.

Taehyung held onto one side of the collection tube while Jeongguk held the other; Both were quite nervous, but simultaneously too adrenalized to let go and back out by then.

The rain came pouring down on them, soaking them head-to-toe even through their rain gear, just as a massive burst of electricity shot into the tube. 

It lasted for all of about three seconds before Jeongguk and Taehyung quickly connected the tube to the metal barrel that sat between them on the deck, sealing away their very first lightning bolt together.

With triumphant laughs and exhilarated sighs, Jeongguk and Taehyung met one another with a tight embrace, rocking side to side momentarily before both were pulling away with cheeks tinted pink.

Taehyung's favorite experience, was the day Captain Jung taught him how to ballroom dance.

He had spent years watching people step and sway and twirl along to lively melodies, and he was sure by the elated looks on their faces that it was one of the most wondrous things a person could experience. 

Taehyung had always longed to experience it, too, and now there he was, one hand in the captain's, the other on the man's shoulder, waltzing around the deck without a care in the world.

Like there weren't witches and princes, and God only knows what else, chasing after him to steal away his heart for their own personal gain.

The airship felt safe to him, like a home away from home. He didn't think he'd ever find another place like that.

Captain Jung's free hand was around Taehyung's waist, resting on the small of his back and gently guiding him in slow half circles around the deck.

Jeongguk watched on from where he sat at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the ship's wheel. A fond grin spread on his face upon witnessing Taehyung's contagious box smile.

Captain Jung carefully dipped the younger man, leaning over him in order to whisper in his ear. 

"Taehyung, I know what you are."

The starboy had been so incredibly happy in that moment, he couldn't contain it, which was why he began to shine with pale golden rays. As they stood back upright however, Taehyung's glow immediately vanished along with any trace of the smile he had.

Though, Captain Jung knew what Taehyung really was long before he began to shimmer.

Taehyung took a step back and tried to remove his hand from the captain's, but he was pulled close again and told, "have no fear. No one on this vessel will harm you. But there are plenty who would."

Taehyung didn't really know what he was supposed to say in response, so he looked to the floor where their loafers met hardwood.

"Your emotions give you away, Taehyung," Captain Jung kept his voice hushed. "You must learn to control them. You've been glowing more brightly every day... and I think you know why~" he singsonged quietly.

"Of course I know why I'm glowing," Taehyung replied, oblivious to the captain's intent. "I'm a star," he whispered, "and what do stars do best?"

"Well, certainly not the Waltz," Captain Jung teased him.

That's when Taehyung felt another hand on his back, just above the captain's. He turned his head to be met with Jeongguk's sparkling brown eyes and ever-inviting smile.

The captain let go of Taehyung then, a knowing smirk on his face as he backed away to let the pair join one another, and Taehyung's glimmer of starlight returned.

The full moon perched in the sky above them was no match for the warm glow of Taehyung's heart that night.


	12. Chapter 12

"Due west, you say?" Lamia asked, having been notified of the airship landing to trade at Ferdinand's.

"Yep," the man replied, eyes fixed on a silver coin floating in the air before him; A bribe.

"And you're sure? Absolutely sure you're not _lying_?"

"I'd cross my heart if I had one," the man joked, but Lamia didn't find him amusing.

Still, she snapped her fingers and the coin fell, not before Ferdinand could catch it.

"Brilliant," he smiled.

"You'd better be telling the truth, you two-faced dog."

"I can get you one of them, actually. Very good guard dogs. They can watch the back and the front door at the same time. I can get you anything you want."

"What are the chances of getting a Babylon candle?" Lamia asked curiously, adjusting her hood to keep her balding scalp hidden away.

"That one's slim," Ferdinand replied. "Although, I did know a girl once, if you know what I mean," he smirked, but Lamia just stared down at him with a blank expression. "She had a sister, or at least I think it was a woman. Oh, she had a face like a bag of frogs. _Ugly_ frogs--"

"Enough," Lamia pointed to the man's mouth, enchanting him to quit speaking. When he opened his mouth to protest, the only noise that came out was that of a seagull.

This would prove fatal for the man later on when Prince Septimus made his presence known within Ferdinand's office.

"Where is the boy?! The boy with the stone! Where did he go?!"

Ferdinand was trying his best to form actual words from where he was held in place by the royal guards, but the noise he made then sounded quite similar to a laugh.

"Are you _mocking_ me?!" Septimus spat.

Ferdinand shook his head quickly.

"'Cause if you are, believe me, you have _seconds_ to live!"

Ferdinand made another choked screeching sound before Septimus plunged his dagger into the man's heart.

"What a freak," he muttered, then held the blade out to one of his men. "Clean this. Thoroughly."

**\---**

While Lamia and Prince Septimus dealt with the "pond scum" as Captain Jung had referred to them, the airship made port once again, this time from the water.

Taehyung had already taken to stepping off the ship, wrapped in a blue silk cloak that the captain had given to him to help protect his identity. 

As he waited on land, the captain spoke with Jeongguk by the helm, offering a bronze canister of lightning and nodding in approval of the young man that stood before him.

"There's the road you'll need for Wall," Captain Jung gestured to a gravelly pathway, then looked at Taehyung with a warm smile. "Good luck on your journey home, Taehyung, wherever that may be," he winked subtly, making the starboy smile back at him. 

Then with a firm handshake, Captain Jung told Jeongguk, "good luck to you, Jeongguk, with your Blaire."

"How can we ever thank you enough for your kindness?" Jeongguk asked the man, disregarding the mention of Blaire's name.

"Don't mention it," the captain replied, then with a straight face, he said, "no, seriously, don't mention it. Reputations, you know. A lifetime to build, seconds to destroy."

Taehyung watched Jeongguk turn to begin his descent down the stairs and onto the deck. Before he could make it too far, however, "oh, Jeongguk!" Captain Jung leaned in to whisper something to the younger man.

Taehyung couldn't hear what was said, nor could he read the captain's lips from that far away, but he caught the words "just think about it," at the end.

Then Jeongguk was nodding as a goodbye and joining Taehyung on land.

"Give my regards to Wall! It's been a pleasure to meet you both!" Captain Jung hummed fondly to the pair, then upon noticing the questioning looks on the faces of his crew members, he added, "mind you don't wear the boy out, Captain Jeongguk!"

The crew cheered loudly and Taehyung just shook his head with a smile as he led Jeongguk down the path toward Wall.

"What did he say to you?" the star asked curiously once they'd gone a few yards without speaking.

"What did he say when?" Jeongguk asked, playing dumb.

"Just then. When he whispered to you," Taehyung answered, fingertips absentmindedly playing with the strings of his cloak.

"Oh, he was just saying that we should use the lightning to get you a Babylon candle," Jeongguk lied, and thankfully, Taehyung seemed to buy it. "Barter for it, you know?"

**\---**

"You might like to know that the star has returned to land," Mormo spoke to Lamia's reflection as she had so many times before. Each time, Lamia's appearance became worse and worse.

"I know, damn it! I couldn't reach the lake in time."

"No matter. We have found him. He is on the road to the village of Wall. If you take the shortcut across the marshes, you should arrive in time to intercept him."

**\---**

Further along the path to Wall, a horse-drawn coach approached Jeongguk and Taehyung quite a few yards ahead, but Jeongguk wasn't taking any chances.

"Taehyung," Jeongguk rushed out and quickly shoved the star off to the side of the road, making him gasp in surprise.

He quickly reached for Jeongguk's forearm to help rebalance himself, only to stumble backward within thick bushes, landing on his back in the dirt and pulling Jeongguk down with him.

Jeongguk's hands were in the dirt to either side of Taehyung's head then, holding himself up in order to keep from crushing the man beneath him.

"Are you trying to break my leg again?!" Taehyung whisper-yelled, glaring up at the raven-haired man.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Jeongguk rushed out apologetically in the same hushed tone, their faces centimeters away from one another. "I just--I _can't_ risk people seeing you. I don't trust anyone."

"But at this rate, if we keep stopping--" Taehyung tried, but Jeongguk brought his index finger to Taehyung's lips.

"Shh, Taehyung," he shushed him, "we're making good time. Just leave it for a minute..."

As Jeongguk glanced back to make sure no one was around, Taehyung studied his profile, admiring the furrow of his brows, the glare in his eyes, and the snowdrop flower that poked out of his tan coat's lapel.

Taehyung didn't mean for it to happen, but he began to glow again; Captain Jung's words replaying in his head.

_"You've been glowing more brightly every day... and I think you know why~"_

Having discerned that they were momentarily safe, Jeongguk looked down at Taehyung once more, eyes sparkling like warm honey with Taehyung's golden glimmer in them.

"Aren't you tempted?" Taehyung asked him softly, a playful smile spreading on his face.

"Tempted?" Jeongguk glanced down at Taehyung's lips before bringing his gaze back to the star's eyes. "By what?"

"Immortality..." Taehyung answered quietly. "Let's say it wasn't _my_ heart. Not me. Just a star you didn't know."

"You seriously think I could kill anyone?" Jeongguk asked, and they both took a moment to laugh about the idea together. "Even if I could... _everlasting life_? I imagine it would be kind of lonely."

Taehyung was taken aback by Jeongguk's answer, not having expected it from him. He was suddenly reminded of how lonesome he had been whilst floating among the vacuum of space.

"Maybe if you had someone to share it with," Jeongguk thought aloud, eyes fixated elsewhere. "Someone you love. Maybe then it might be different."

Taehyung knew Jeongguk was speaking of Blaire. 

It was evident in his lovesick expression.

Jeongguk glanced back over his shoulder once more before saying, "come on. I think we're safe."

Taehyung sighed to himself, a dull ache in his heart as Jeongguk stood up and offered him a hand.

**\---**

"Remember, Captain Jung has a fearsome reputation," Septimus warned his men upon arriving at the port where the airship had been afloat in the water.

Regardless, Septimus led his men onboard, easily overtaking the ship with his guards.

Captain Jung's crew scowled as they were forced away from the entrance of the captain's quarters. 

A record of Offenbach's _Can-Can_ playing below deck could be heard even above as Septimus ripped open the door and let himself down the steps.

Upon entering the cabin and finding no one, Septimus raised a brow and moved a little deeper, over to an open set of doors where Captain Jung could be seen dancing within a walk in closet.

He had been holding the long sleeves of a woman's ballgown, spinning around the room with it as if he were dancing with a partner.

Once he had turned and spotted the prince in black standing in the doorway, the captain was quick to drop the dress.

"What the hell is this?" Septimus' brows furrowed.

"What are you doing here?" the captain stepped closer to the prince.

"My name is Prince Septimus." He drew his sword and held it to Captain Jung's neck, "and you're going to tell me where I can find the boy."

Up above on deck, Captain Jung's men had made steady work of disarming and incapacitating the prince's royal guard.

Once they'd been defeated, the crew rushed below deck to fight for their Captain.

Septimus held the man by his throat against his desk, "I'm gonna count to three. One... two--"

"Oi!" the first mate shouted, making Septimus pause and gape at them. "Get him!!!"

With a charge of the entire crew, Captain Jung was released while Prince Septimus immediately turned, busted a window out of the back of the ship, and plunged into the water below, making his escape.

"Get out! Everybody, get out!" Captain Jung waved them off, outwardly embarrassed that the prince had managed to come so close to defeating him.

"Did he hurt you, captain?" the first mate asked, seeming genuinely concerned.

The captain glared up at him then, but shook his head.

"Did you tell him where your nephew and the boy went?"

Captain Jung shook his head again.

"So what's the problem?"

"My reputation," Captain Jung replied.

"Oh, no, don't be silly. Nonsense. You'll always be our captain, Captain Jung."

"Aye, aye, Captain Jung!" the crew shouted in unison, managing to make the man smile once again.

**\---**

"You know, you sort of glitter sometimes," Jeongguk thought aloud, "I just noticed it. Is it normal?"

"Let's see if you can work it out for yourself," Taehyung replied from where he was walking ahead of the human. "What do stars do?"

"I dunno," Jeongguk pretended to think it over as he caught up before adding, "attract trouble?"

Taehyung scoffed out a short laugh before shoving Jeongguk off of the path with a nudge of his elbow.

"Alright," Jeongguk laughed at that, righting himself before he could lose his balance, and jogged back up to Taehyung. "Do I get another guess? Is it... that they know exactly how to annoy a boy named Jeongguk?"

Taehyung rolled his eyes at that, shaking his head with another laugh before he spotted a stone off to the side of the path up ahead, reading:

**_THE WALL 60 MILES  
←_ **

"How long will that take?" Taehyung asked curiously.

"Maybe two days?" Jeongguk shrugged. 

"But we don't have two days. Blaire's birthday is tomorrow."

"Yes, it is," Jeongguk nodded, having completely forgotten that they were on a strict time schedule. "Well remembered."


	13. Chapter 13

"Prince Septimus! Your men, th-they're dead!" the goat girl warned him as she watched him crawl out of the water and get to his feet.

She was sitting upon the only remaining horse that hadn't run off in fear of the fight between the royal guard and Captain Jung's crew.

"Oh, really?" he muttered sarcastically before pulling her down from the horse, throwing her to the ground carelessly, mounting the steed himself, and riding away without another word.

**\---**

"I met that woman. She's friends with the captain."

Taehyung and Jeongguk had taken to hiding beneath a stone bridge when they'd noticed a yellow caravan approaching up ahead. Ditchwater Sal sat at the front of it, controlling the reigns of her horses as they rode along the path.

"He said she trades at the market near Wall," Taehyung told Jeongguk. "We could hitch a lift."

"Really?" Jeongguk raised a brow at the information, "she's a friend of the captain's? You're sure?"

"Yes, yes," Taehyung nodded quickly, afraid that the woman would become too far gone if they just stood there any longer.

So Jeongguk led the way out from under the bridge and up a small hill back onto the pathway. He stood before the caravan and waved his arms. 

"Wait, sorry!" he called to the woman as she ordered her horses to halt. "My name is Jeongguk. This is--" he was just about to introduce Taehyung when the witch's brows furrowed at him.

"That's _my_ flower!" Ditchwater Sal pointed to the snowdrop resting over his heart, the hummingbird tilting it's head from where it was perched on the door. "18 years I've been looking for that! Give it to me, now!"

Sal stepped down from the caravan and quickly marched over to the young man.

"How dare you? That was a gift from his mother!" Taehyung defended, albeit uselessly, unaware of how Sal had been enchanted by Lamia.

_"You shall not see the star, touch it, smell or hear it. You will not perceive it even if it stands before you."_

Jeongguk drew his sword then, holding the end out toward the witch with furrowed brows and a clenched jaw.

"Oh," Sal took a step back out of fear and offered an apologetic smile. "Perhaps I was mistaken."

"It's alright," Jeongguk replied. "It's obviously very valuable to you, so you can have it in exchange for what I need. A Babylon candle?"

"And safe passage to the wall," Taehyung added, only to be ignored once again.

"A Babylon candle?" Sal asked. "Oh, no, no. I don't deal in black magic," she lied straight to his face.

"Really?" Jeongguk asked, disappointedly. "Well, can you give us a lift then? To the wall?"

"Well, why didn't you say so in the first place?" Sal hummed, seeming happy to oblige considering she was already headed in that direction.

Taehyung's face held an incredulous look, shaking his head at the woman as if to show that she was being absolutely ridiculous.

"For that flower, I can offer you passage," Sal accepted the deal. "Food and lodging along the way."

" _Safe_ passage?"

"I swear that you will arrive at the wall in the exact same condition that you're in now," she raised her right hand, as if taking an oath.

So Jeongguk sheathed his sword and picked the small flower from his coat in order to hand it over to the older woman. She sighed in relief as she clutched it in her palm.

"Do you have any idea what manner of a thing it was that you've had?" she asked.

"Some kind of lucky charm?" Jeongguk answered. The only knowledge he had of the snowdrop was what his father had told him of his mother.

"A very lucky charm indeed," Sal replied. "Protection. In fact, the very protection that would've prevented me from doing _this_."

With a simple snap of her fingers, Jeongguk had immediately been transformed into a tiny little dormouse.

Taehyung's jaw fell open, "oh, my God! What did you do?!" he shouted at the woman, to no avail.

Even as Taehyung stepped closer and swung his fists, he found that no matter how hard he tried, he could not make physical contact with the witch whatsoever.

"Much better," Sal smirked as she reached down to pick Jeongguk off the ground. "Though I'll keep my word. You shall not be harmed."

Taehyung growled angrily as she moved to carry Jeongguk back to the caravan.

He followed her inside of it and watched her slip him into a tiny wooden cage.

"There," Sal hummed as she closed the opening. "Food and lodging just as I promised."

"Would I be correct in thinking that you can neither see nor hear me?" Taehyung asked from the doorway as the woman chuckled wickedly at the sight of the boy-turned-dormouse in the cage.

There was no response from the witch, of course, so Taehyung shook his head with a wry laugh. "Then I'd like to tell you that you smell of piss, you _look_ like the wrong end of a dog, and I swear if you don't set my Jeongguk back as he was, I'll be your _personal poltergeist_!"

With a nasty cough, Ditchwater Sal returned to her spot at the reigns and Taehyung's jaw clenched as he tried his best to calm down.

He was beyond furious, but even so, he tried his best to look on the bright side (pun intended); At least they were heading in the right direction, and at a much faster pace, no doubt.

Still, as Taehyung looked over at the dormouse in the cage, he felt metaphorical weights bearing down on his shoulders, and it wasn't just gravity.

"Jeongguk?" Taehyung asked then, taking a gentle step closer to the cage. "If you can understand me, look at me now."

Jeongguk turned his little mouse head to the right, and Taehyung followed his line of sight up to a wedge of cheese that was hanging near the cupboards.

Taehyung sighed, but moved to pull off a tiny morsel, and handed it to him through the small gaps in the cage.

The dormouse immediately began snacking on it, nibbling away quite adorably as Taehyung sat down beside the cage and rubbed his face with his hands.

He looked up at Jeongguk once more before asking, "you know when I said I knew little about love?"

There's no answer of course, and Taehyung wasn't really expecting one, so he continued.

"Well, that wasn't true..." Then with a proud smile, he told him, "I know a lot about love. I've _seen_ it. I've seen centuries and _centuries_ of it! It was the only thing that made watching your world bearable."

"All those wars..." Taehyung shook his head as he thought aloud of the horrors he'd witnessed from the sky. "Pain and lies... _hate_. It made me want to turn away and never look down again."

"But to see the way that mankind _loves_..." A smile returned to Taehyung's face. "I mean, you could search the furthest reaches of the universe and _never_ find _anything_ more beautiful."

Jeongguk stared up at him with his beady little eyes and tiny little mouse hands clutching what was left of his cheese.

"So yes. I know that love is unconditional," as he had said before, "but I also know that it can be unpredictable... unexpected, uncontrollable, _unbearable_... and strangely easy to mistake for loathing, and..."

Taehyung could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks as he gathered the courage to finally say what he'd been thinking about since the day they caught lightning together.

"What I'm trying to say, Jeongguk, is... I think I _love_ you."

With the morsel of cheese now gone, the dormouse stared blankly at Taehyung as he confessed his feelings.

"My heart... it feels like my chest can barely contain it," Taehyung shook his head because he knew he probably sounded ridiculous, and probably _looked_ ridiculous, confessing his undying love to a rodent.

"It's like it doesn't even _belong_ to me anymore. I-It belongs to _you_ ," he said with shaking hands and a nervous beat to his heart, "and if you wanted it, I'd wish for _nothing_ in exchange. No gifts, no goods, no demonstrations of devotion..." he shook his head.

"Nothing but knowing that you love me, too... Just your heart in exchange for mine."

**\---**

"The wall is one mile that way," Ditchwater Sal pointed to her right upon arriving at The Slaughtered Prince and setting Jeongguk the dormouse on the ground outside. "Though it might take a little longer than normal. Transformation tends to leave the brain a bit scrambled for a while."

With a gentle touch of her fingertip to the rodent's head, Jeongguk was returned to his original human form.

The first thing he did was draw his sword.

"You..." he began weakly before immediately collapsing. Taehyung dropped to his knees at his side.

"I told you," Sal laughed at him from where he lay in the dust. "Save your strength," she shook her head before walking off.

"I've been so worried about you," Taehyung rushed out, brushing Jeongguk's dark hair out of his eyes.

"Blaire...?" Jeongguk mumbled incoherently.

"I think I prefer being called your mother," Taehyung muttered, but nevertheless helped Jeongguk get to his feet even if he leaned all of his weight on Taehyung's shoulder. 

"Come on. There's an inn over there. Blaire's birthday's not until tomorrow. I think you need a bath and a good night's sleep before you present me to her."


	14. Chapter 14

As Jeongguk lay snoring from where Taehyung had dropped him on the room's only bed, the star took to the tub in the corner of the room.

He'd originally planned to draw a bath for Jeongguk, but seeing as how he was now unconscious, Taehyung decided to draw one for himself instead.

It had been a long and eventful day, and Taehyung figured it was the least he deserved after everything that had happened.

So he sat in the warmth of the water, mentally reliving their days on the airship, and not even noticing that Jeongguk had no longer been lying asleep in bed.

The only thing separating the tub from the rest of the room, was a folding wooden divider, and Taehyung squeaked when the tiny window in the center of the divider had been pulled open.

"Excuse me?" Jeongguk smirked as Taehyung quickly turned to face away from him. "I think you're in my bath."

"Well, close your eyes!" Taehyung replied exasperatedly, trying his best to hide the small smile on his face as well as his most intimate bits.

Jeongguk chuckled and closed the window before turning around and facing the bed. "Okay, I'm not looking. Honestly, I'm not."

He could her the gentle sloshing of the bath water moving as Taehyung moved to step out of the tub.

"Alright, you can open them now," the star said upon wrapping a towel around his waist.

Jeongguk faced him again, watching him step over to the mirror at the side of the room and run his fingers through his dry hair.

"Did you really mean what you said in the caravan?"

Taehyung's lips parted at that upon realizing what Jeongguk meant. His eyes widened as well. "What I--"

Jeongguk offered him a fond smile.

"But--But, you were a mouse!" Taehyung replied quickly in disbelief, "you were a mouse! You wanted _cheese_! You didn't--"

Taehyung hid his face in his hands then, too embarrassed to hold the eye contact any longer.

"I asked you to give me a sign that you understood me!"

"And risk you being too embarrassed to keep saying such lovely things?" Jeongguk asked with a chuckle, moving forward to pry Taehyung's hands away from his face.

Taehyung still kept a hand over his mouth, too afraid to speak, too afraid to ruin whatever this was becoming.

Jeongguk moved Taehyung's hair momentarily in order to press a gentle kiss to his forehead. His hands were on Taehyung's shoulders then, warm and magical, and the star couldn't believe any of this was happening. It couldn't have been real.

"You want to know what Captain Jung really whispered to me this morning?"

Taehyung looked up at him then with his wide brown eyes and nodded.

"He told me that my true love was right in front of my eyes," Jeongguk revealed as Taehyung began to shimmer, looking down at him with something the star had only seen while looking down on Earth, "and you know what? He was right."

Jeongguk gently cupped Taehyung's face in his hands and met his lips in a soft kiss.

Taehyung had obviously never been kissed before, never been held, and had especially never been _loved_ , but even so, he draped his arms over Jeongguk's shoulders and let himself melt.

Not much else was said between the two of them for the remainder of the night. They spent that time together feeling and tasting one another, giving each other so much more than just their hearts.

Any thoughts or words Taehyung had were pushed to the very back of his mind as he relied solely on instinct, working at the buttons of Jeongguk's dress shirt and slowly pushing it off of his shoulders while Jeongguk stepped out of his pants.

As soon as they were stood completely bare, lips seeming to lock together like magnets, Taehyung let his head tip back in order for Jeongguk to trail his searing kisses down his throat with a strong hand gripping the hair at his nape.

The star was glittering so much brighter than Jeongguk had ever seen before. 

Jeongguk didn't know that was even possible until then. Little did he know, the way Taehyung glittered for him then was _nothing_ compared to the way he would shine in the night sky.

**\---**

"You're very close! He's in the market town one mile from the gap in the wall," Mormo informed Lamia; Their chats through their mirror had become more abundant, and it was taking an obvious toll on the witch's body, but Lamia simply didn't care anymore.

All she cared about was finding that starboy, ripping his heart out, and devouring every morsel of it she possibly could. She figured she deserved it after all the trouble she had gone through whilst trying to track him down. 

Oh, how she longed to make him suffer.   
Him and that farm boy he'd been following around.

"You speak as if this is good news," Lamia replied then. "Do I need to remind you that Wall is _not_ part of our universe? If he crosses that threshold into the human realm, our star becomes nothing more than a _pitted lump of metallic_ _rock_!"

"Then I'd suggest you _hurry up_!" Empusa bounced her brows at her expectantly.

**\---**

Early the next morning, while Taehyung lay sleeping amidst his sunny glow in the bed of the inn, Jeongguk decided that then was as good a time as any to sneak out and cross the wall.

He wasn't leaving Taehyung behind with malicious intent. He would return for the star as soon as he'd finished his business in the next town over.

For that day had been Blaire's birthday, and Jeongguk knew he didn't have much time left to introduce her to the boy he'd found lying in a crater just a week before.

It was crazy, Jeongguk thought, how so much could change within such a short amount of time.

Who he had once seen as the love of his life was merely an afterthought to him now, and what he had once seen as a nuisance of a birthday gift was now the person (or the star in this case) Jeongguk had been daydreaming about spending the rest of his life with for as long as he could remember.

Nevertheless, he made Blaire a promise that he would return to her with a star within the week. So he made sure to do just that, or at least what he felt could be an equivalent, as he couldn't possibly wake Taehyung up when he looked so damn peaceful and comfortable as he slept within the mess they had made of their sheets.

As Taehyung slept, facing away from him, Jeongguk grabbed his knife from the bedside table and gently cut a small bit of honey brown hair from the back of his head.

Blaire didn't deserve Taehyung.   
Jeongguk realized that now. 

She _barely_ deserved something as minuscule as a tuft of his hair. Even so, Jeongguk placed it on a handkerchief and folded it neatly into a square before slipping it into his coat and heading out.

He figured the small bit of starlight would suffice as a parting gift after he told Blaire he no longer had feelings for her.

As he passed the desk at the front, he tapped the service bell, and was met with a groan from behind.

"What?" the owner mumbled from where he'd been resting on a couch in the center of the lobby.

"Sorry. Can I have a piece of paper and a pen?"

"Ask me again at a more reasonable hour."

"No, I can't, I have to go," Jeongguk shook his head. "Look, if my friend wakes up before I get back, can you please give him a message?"

"Go on."

**\---**

"You know, that's the first time I've ever slept at night? I can't believe it," Taehyung thought aloud in a gruff sleepy voice, yawning quietly as he stretched and turned to face Jeongguk, only to find the other side of the bed empty and cold. 

"Jeongguk?" the light around his body dimmed a bit as he looked around the room, finding that he was in fact alone.

He tried not to worry too much. He knew he could trust Jeongguk, but he still got up and pulled his clothes on to find out where the boy ran off to.

"Have you seen my friend?" Taehyung asked the owner of the inn upon descending the steps into the lobby.

"He left absurdly early," the man replied, having gotten up and poured himself a shot of alcohol since Jeongguk left. 

He paid no mind to the fact that the boy in front of him was literally shining. In that market place, a person got used to seeing such out-of-the-ordinary things.

"He left?" 

"He told me to tell you that he's gone to see Blaire, because he's sorry, but he's found his true love, and he wants to spend the rest of his life with 'em."

"What?" Taehyung was no longer shining, an incredulous look on his face as if to show that he couldn't believe it.

And maybe the man could've worded it a bit better, considering that wasn't what Jeongguk was trying to get across to him _at all_.

In this accidental game of telephone, it seemed as though Jeongguk had simply strung Taehyung along for the hell of it.

"Are you sure?" Taehyung asked, and the man nodded his head, seeming quite sure of his statements.

"I'm positive."


	15. Chapter 15

Taehyung couldn't stand the way he felt as he followed the pathway through the market in the direction of the wall. The witch who had shifted Jeongguk into a dormouse the day before, had told them this was the right way, and he hoped he could rely on her word no matter how much he really didn't want to.

"Hey! Hey, wait!" a female voice called out to Taehyung as he walked, but he paid no mind to it. He didn't know anyone there. it wasn't likely that they were speaking to him. Besides, Taehyung felt too depressed to bother with anything other than making it to that damn wall.

Taehyung demanded to know the truth.

If what the innkeeper said was true, and Jeongguk really did return home to marry Blaire, Taehyung felt he deserved some sort of an explanation from Jeongguk. Even if that just meant getting his heart ripped into tiny pieces by the human.

Ditchwater Sal's enslaved princess huffed from her spot at the doorway of the witch's caravan.

Sal had been out drinking all of the night before, and had only just recently returned in order to sleep.

The princess glanced back at the sleeping witch with pursed lips.

She knew she would get in _so_ _much trouble_ for pulling something like this, but it had to be done.

Someone had to stop Taehyung from crossing the wall before it would be too late.

So the princess closed the door of the caravan and locked the witch inside of it before taking hold of the horse's reigns and quickly flicking them, sending the caravan flying through the center of the marketplace towards the wall.

**\---**

"Happy birthday," Jeongguk greeted Blaire at her front door with a warm smile.

"Jeongguk..." Blaire gave him a once over, seeming in shock of what she was beholding. "What happened to you?" she asked in regards to how different he appeared from the week before.

 _A lot_ , Jeongguk thought to himself, but he simply told her, "I found the star."

"I can't believe you did it," Blaire replied with a smile. "Where is my star? Can I see it? Is it beautiful?"

Jeongguk's smile widened at that as he honestly replied, "yes."

He reached into his coat to retrieve the handkerchief he'd stowed away. He handed it over and prepared to explain why he no longer wished to be married to her.

"Well, it's awfully small," Blaire commented, staring down at the hanky with a look of disappointment.

"Well," Jeongguk began, "that's just a little piece. A token for your birthday."

"Well, then forget about the star."

 _As if_ , Jeongguk thought.

"It's not the star that I want," Blaire told him then, a smirk taking place on her lips as she wrapped her arms around Jeongguk's neck. "You know what I want."

"Yeah. I do," Jeongguk replied, making her smile widen into a mischievous grin as he dipped her to the side and leaned in closer.

Blaire closed her eyes, preparing to be smooched, only to have Jeongguk whisper in her ear instead.

"You want to grow up and get over yourself," he pulled back to look her in the eye as he let go of her waist and she fell onto her ass with a small 'oof' just as Namjoon approached the front of Blaire's house.

With furrowed brows and a gaping mouth, Namjoon stormed over to them.

"Namjoon," Jeongguk greeted casually.

"Jeongguk," the older man spat back, making Blaire smile from the dirt as he pulled his sword from its sheath. "You must have a death wish," he told Jeongguk, holding the blade out towards him challengingly.

Jeongguk glanced down at the man's weapon with a soft smirk.  
Then he drew his own sword that Captain Jung had gifted him. 

It had a much thicker, much _heavier_ blade, and he skillfully swung the weapon in an X motion before pointing it at the man.

"Ah," Namjoon sighed to himself, sliding his sword away. His blade looked like a toothpick in comparison to Jeongguk's.

"Namjoon, it's alright," Jeongguk assuring him, despite laughing a little as he also returned his blade to its sheath. "She's all yours," he looked back at Blaire who had begun to unfold the handkerchief she'd been given. "You really are a perfect couple. The best of luck to you both."

"Well, why would I want this?" Blaire looked up at Jeongguk incredulously as she held what appeared to be a small pile of sparkling grey dirt in her hands. "It's just a measly handful of stardust," she folded it back up before tossing it at Jeongguk with a huff.

He caught it reflexively and unfolded it, just for the dust to spill onto the ground before fading out of existence.

"Taehyung," he said suddenly, eyes wide in realization, "he can't cross the wall."

Blaire and Namjoon watched as Jeongguk broke out into a full on sprint away from them before looking at each other with matching looks of confusion.

As Taehyung wandered towards the wall with a heavy, dim heart, Jeongguk raced as quickly as his legs could possibly carry him. Meanwhile the coaches of Lamia, Prince Septimus, and Ditchwater Sal charged onward toward the same destination.

Only one of which would reach him in time.

A pair of dainty hands wrapped around Taehyung's bicep just as he had lifted his foot to step through the gap in the wall.

"Stop! Stop!" a woman of dark hair and wide brown eyes rushed out to him, making him face her. "If you go through there, you'll die!"

Yoongi the wall guardian woke from where he had been sleeping against the other side of the wall and peeked around the edge of the gap to listen in.

"What?" Taehyung asked quietly, brows furrowed in confusion. He'd never seen this woman in his life and there she suddenly was, trying to persuade him against entering Wall. He hadn't even noticed the yellow caravan behind her until with a blast of energy, the door of it flew off its hinges, revealing a very angry looking Ditchwater Sal.

"If you set foot on human soil, you'll turn to rock--" the princess said just before Sal pulled her backward with a harsh tug of the enchanted silver chain around her ankle. The same exact chain that had been used by Jeongguk to capture Taehyung several days ago.

"Wretched slattern!" Sal growled at the girl, dragging her across the grass by the chain as another coach approached the scene. "Where have you taken me?!"

Upon spotting the black horses and coach of Lamia, Sal dropped the chain as quickly as her angry face fell.

"Planning to enter Wall, were you?" Lamia smirked at Taehyung upon stepping out of the carriage.

Taehyung swallowed thickly as he stared at the decrepit woman, then glanced back at Sal and the slave girl, both of which were staring at the dark witch with fearful expressions.

"If death is what you wish, my dear, I'd be _more_ than happy to assist you," Lamia approached the boy, making his fists clench at his sides.

"Are you talking to me?" Sal asked, the star still invisible to her eyes and muted to her ears. She grabbed the princess by the wrist and dragged her along as she stepped closer to Lamia.

"Ah," Lamia sighed as if she weren't expecting to see the other witch. " _You_! Small world. Anyhow, no I wasn't. I was talking to the star."

"What star?" Sal shook her head in confusion, then looked over at the princess. "My slave's no star. Any fool can see that. If she _was_ , I'd have had the heart out of her chest a _long_ time ago, trust me."

" _Trust you_? Not a mistake I'd be likely to make again," Lamia laughed as she reached a gentle hand out to trace her pruned fingertips over the diamond around Taehyung's neck. "What's it to be, Ditchwater Sal? Heads or tails?"

Sal shook her head in confusion before Lamia raised her index finger and she realized she was going to be attacked.

Flashes of green flame and black smoke made Taehyung take a few steps back, bumping into the princess before standing back against the stone wall with her, both anxiously clinging to one another as they watched the fight rage on.

Sal tried her best to fight off Lamia's advances, but she was no match for the Dark Majesty's power.

Her head was blown from her shoulders before her entire body was lit in green flame, ridding the world of the conniving Ditchwater Sal, and releasing the princess from her bonds all in an instant.

Lamia cackled at the other witch's fate before looking up at Taehyung. "Time to go!" she chirped happily as she turned back toward her coach.

"He's not going _anywhere_ ," the princess declared, lacing her fingers with Taehyung's and squeezing his palm tight.

"I think you'll find he _is_ ," Lamia replied as-a-matter-of-factly. "Don't worry. You can come, too," she assured, raising her finger in order to enchant the silver chain around their wrists, linking the star to the princess. "Now, you can ride _in_ the carriage, or be dragged behind it. Your choice."


	16. Chapter 16

"What happened?!" Jeongguk rushed out when he nearly ran straight into Yoongi.

"Be my guest!" Yoongi gestured to the gap behind him. "I quit! Eighty years I've stopped you people going out. What I should have been worrying about was those people from the other side coming _in_!"

"Alright! Just tell me what happened!" Jeongguk snapped a bit then, but only because the situation at hand was so dire.

" _What happened_?! Oh, where to _start_?!"

As soon as Yoongi got to the part where ' _an alleged star has been kidnapped_ ,' Jeongguk's eyes widened with fear as he brokenly shouted, " _no_!"

He quickly hopped the gap and took note of the state Ditchwater Sal's caravan had been left in. He spotted the white snowdrop in the grass by the broken door and slipped it back into his coat. 

Then he noticed the charred, headless body of who he could only assume was once Ditchwater Sal herself.

Who or whatever had taken Taehyung this time around was extremely dangerous, but Jeongguk wasn't thinking about that when he disconnected Sal's horses from the carriage and quickly mounted one.

"Ha!" Jeongguk flicked the reigns, sending the horse charging forward, away from the wall and deeper into Stormhold's forests.

Trailing not far behind him, on a horse of his own, was Prince Septimus.

**\---**

"The star!" Empusa and Mormo gaped as their sister entered their grand home with Taehyung in tow, along with a woman in green. Both had eyes rimmed with tears. "And who else?"

"A slave for us," Lamia answered. "It will be nice to have someone to help mop up when we've finished with our little guest."

"Oh, good work, sister!" Empusa cheered as she separated the star and the princess from their bonds. "And just in time, I see! You look awful!"

As Empusa led the girl away, she glanced back at Taehyung with fear in her wide, wet eyes.

Taehyung sucked his bottom lip anxiously, unable to help the feeling that that may have been the last time he would see the girl.

Whoever she was, Taehyung was grateful for her kindness.  
During the carriage ride, she had pulled him in when he began to cry, letting him hide his face between her neck and shoulder.

She didn't have to warn him about crossing the wall, or let him cry on her shoulder, or do _anything_ for him, yet there she was; Caught in the same trap she had been before, only with different captors, all for the sake of Taehyung.

He couldn't help but wonder, _why?_

**\---**

There's a dagger at Jeongguk's throat the second he began looking in the windows of what he could only hope was the building Taehyung had been taken to. There was a black coach out front with horses carelessly left unattended to, and that was the only real lead he had.

"Who are you?" Prince Septimus' brows furrowed as he stared Jeongguk down. "What business do you have here?"

Jeongguk glanced down at the man's hand, spotting the tattoo of a 7 on the back of it. "Septimus," he greeted the man with a curt nod. "I knew your brother, Primus."

Septimus took a step closer then, "unless you wish to meet him in the afterlife, I suggest you _answer my question_. What are you doing here?"

"I might ask you the same thing," Jeongguk pulled his own knife from his waist and held the sharp tip of it to the prince's stomach.

"Ah," Septimus nodded respectfully, slowly moving to return his dagger to his side. Jeongguk did the same before both turned to look inside. "There are four of them," Septimus pointed out. "Do as I say and we may stand a chance."

"Wait," Jeongguk shook his head. "How do I know you can be trusted?"

"You don't," Septimus answered simply. "Why? Do you have a choice?"

"No."

"Well, then let's go," Septimus lead the way, charging straight inside with his sword drawn and ready to fight.

The first person he grabbed was the woman in green, the slave girl.

Or the woman Septimus knew better as, " _Una_?"

"Septimus!" the princess sighed in relief at the sight of her brother's face, wrapping her arms around his middle and squeezing tight.

"Sister!" Septimus seemed to be in shock, his body going rigid in her hold before he finally hugged her back. He thought she'd been dead for all those years, and now to find out that she'd been enslaved enraged him further.

A fiery blast to Septimus' back split the long lost siblings apart, the prince quickly running off and smacking away the tiny flames that bit at his coat until they were extinguished. Princess Una ran in the opposite direction, running straight into Jeongguk who had been waiting around the corner, ready to strike.

He drew his arms back as if he were about to swing his blade when Una quickly brought her hands up and rushed out, "Jeongguk, no! Jeongguk!"

Jeongguk's eyes widened at that, his arms falling slightly as he wondered how she could have possibly known his name.

"I-I'm your--I'm your _mother_!" she stuttered out, clearly in shock. Jeongguk's features softened and he lowered his weapon when she cupped his face in her hands. "I'm your mother, baby," she assured him.

Jeongguk's eyes welled up with tears as he enveloped the woman in his arms, wishing he could let himself enjoy the feeling of her hand stroking his hair. Unfortunately, Jeongguk was on a time sensitive mission with a man, who he now knew as his blood uncle, Septimus.

The same uncle who had just been burned once more upon charging Empusa with his sword held in front of him. She heated the metal of the blade in his hand, forcing him to drop it, before blasting him with fire once more.

As he turned to quickly remove his burning coat, not noticing that some of his long hair was still aflame, Empusa turned to look up at her sisters who had been busy strapping Taehyung to a glass table at the top of the massive set of stairs. 

The same glass table Jeongguk had seen in his dreams of the late starboy named Jimin.

Empusa laughed with her sisters, and upon being distracted, Prince Septimus lifted his sword once more before slinging it forward with an angry shout.

It pierced through the center of Empusa's chest, pinning her to the wall directly behind her, and killing her almost instantly.

Mormo moved to attack then as Septimus quickly rushed to pull his sword from the witch's corpse, but Lamia stopped her.

She pulled a clay doll from the breast of her dress, raising it out towards the prince before snapping its left arm to the side, causing Septimus' arm to snap in the exact same way.

He let out a cry of pain as he dropped his sword once more, his free hand moving to cradle his now broken arm.

Immediately after, Lamia snapped the doll's left leg sideways, breaking Septimus' leg all the same.

"Now," Lamia smiled down at the prince, "let's put out those flames. Shall we?"

She dropped the doll then and Septimus was quick to notice the fountain of water directly below. He inhaled suddenly and held his breath the second the doll splashed into it.

The flames in his hair extinguished, and he began to float in mid air as if he were submerged in a body of water.

Everyone watched as he drowned before their eyes, and when Lamia was sure he was dead, she waved her hand downward and his body fell lifelessly to the marble floor below.

"Let's get on with it," Lamia turned to Mormo then, moving to join her side by the glass table once again.

Jeongguk panicked a bit, turning away from the scene with wide starry eyes and labored breaths as he crouched down.

"Jeongguk, sweetheart," Una cupped his face once more, looking him in the eye with her own set of starry ones. "Be the man that I _know_ you are," she reassured him.

Jeongguk took a deep breath and nodded. "Get outside," he told her, and she nodded as well, rushing to the door and slipping away into the twilight. She watched from the window as her son made his presence known, stepping deeper into the building, standing amongst several caged animals.

"Jeongguk!!!" Taehyung cried out when he spotted the boy, his body glowing with the slightest bit of happiness upon doing so.

Lamia took note of the way the starboy glistened at the sight of the human being.

"Get him!" she told Mormo, who immediately obeyed, rushing down the steps toward Jeongguk who had raised his sword in the meantime.

As the witch approached, Jeongguk peeked at his surroundings for anything he could use, then an idea popped into his head upon spotting the lock of a cage.

He quickly swung his sword down upon it, breaking it open and releasing several ferrets onto the floor.

They scattered toward the witch, climbing up her clothing and biting any skin that was revealed to them.

Another swing of Jeongguk's sword sent a small pack of wolf pups charging after Mormo who screamed in fear and pain.

They ripped the witch to shreds in a matter of seconds before Princess Una slid the front doors open once more to free them from their captivity.

"So, what's it to be, Prince Charming?" Lamia suddenly appeared in the space before Jeongguk, scowling at him. "Frog or tadpole?"

Before Jeongguk could get a word out, an enchantment was cast his way, only to be deflected by some sort of invisible force field.

Lamia tried once more, but to no avail.

Jeongguk was just as confused as her until he remembered.

The snowdrop.

He pulled the flower from his coat and gently twirled it between his fingertips, showing it off to the witch with a cocky smirk.

Lamia growled and brought her hand up once more, sending a massive vase hurling in his direction, which he dodged at first until she hurled it toward his back while he wasn't looking.

Jeongguk landed on the marble floor with a groan of pain, and upon hearing the clatter of his lightning canister, he suddenly got an idea.

He stood and quickly opened it, shooting out a bolt that was so powerful, it knocked him back down onto his ass while it electrocuted the witch before him.

She cried out in pain as she fell, but crawled forward to the fountain to grab the doll out of the water.

Jeongguk heard the metal scrape of a sword against the ground behind him and when he turned around, he was met with the corpse of his uncle Septimus rising up from the floor.

His eyes were closed and his chest wasn't moving, so Jeongguk knew he was definitely still dead.

He tried his best to fight back his tears as he was forced to fence Septimus as a distraction while Lamia scaled the stairs to stand by Taehyung.

Jeongguk had to figure out a way to defeat him, considering he'd already stabbed him through the chest and broken his back, yet Septimus was still coming at him.

He was forced against the far right wall, Septimus' feet slowly dragging his body towards his nephew like a zombie.

Jeongguk looked to his left, nothing.  
Then looked to his right, and found several tied off ropes.

He looked up at the ceiling and spotted several chandeliers hanging from it. 

One of them was directly above Septimus.

So Jeongguk began chopping ropes one by one, sending the fixtures of metal and glass crashing down onto the floor below them.

One of them nearly hit Taehyung from where he was strapped to the glass table at the top of the stairs, and it made Jeongguk wince, but he kept cutting the ropes.

Finally one came crashing down onto Septimus' reanimated corpse. Jeongguk made sure he was holding onto the other end of the rope, and as the chandelier fell, he was sent flying through the air like a true pirate.

He let go of the rope once he was high enough to reach Taehyung, purposely landing directly on top of Lamia.

The witch coughed painfully, but Jeongguk was quick to stand and rush to the glass table, attempting to untie Taehyung's wrists.

"Jeongguk!" Taehyung shrieked, making the boy whip back around.

He was met with Lamia, who was now wielding two of her great knives, skillfully swinging them towards him.

Jeongguk tried his best to dodge, even swung his sword, only to have it knocked from his hand.

The witch held a blade to his throat then before bringing her arm back, preparing to pierce it through his chest.

Jeongguk closed his eyes then, accepting his defeat as Lamia finally swung her knives. 

"No!!!" Taehyung yelped at the sound of impact, forcing himself to look away from the scene.

However, Lamia hadn't harmed either young man. She had cut the straps that were holding Taehyung's body against the glass table and then slammed her knives down on the floor at her sides.

" _Youth_ ," she spat, voice wavering, " _beauty_... it all seems meaningless now! My sisters are dead! Everything I cared about is _gone_!"

Lamia turned away from them, beginning to sob.

Jeongguk looked down at Taehyung with a look of confusion, finding a similar expression on the star's tear-soaked face.

"Go..." Lamia choked out.

Jeongguk was quick to grab Taehyung's hands and sit him up.

"GO!!!" Lamia shouted, the word echoing around the building with great force and Jeongguk rushed to lead Taehyung down the stairs, gripping the star's hand tightly in his own.


	17. Epilogue

"No!!!" Princess Una cried upon watching the front doors of the witches' home slam shut, sealing Jeongguk and Taehyung inside before they could make their escape.

With an echoing cackle, Lamia shattered the mirrors at either side of the room, sending shards of it flying toward the pair.

They ran further away from the entrance to avoid being cut, while Lamia shattered every mirror, every vase, anything that could result in shrapnel to use against them.

Jeongguk brought Taehyung down onto the floor with him then, trying to shield him away from everything that seemed to be crumbling down upon them.

"I owe you thanks, boy," Lamia spat at Jeongguk, descending the staircase at the far end of the room with one of her great knives. "What use was his heart to me when it was broken?"

Jeongguk and Taehyung quickly stood, the marble floor a mess of glass and debris as they glared up at the elderly woman.

"And you got rid of my sisters, so now I can have it all for myself."

Jeongguk swallowed thickly, trying to think of any possible way they could've escaped as the witch approached them, but he couldn't manage it this time around.

Luckily, Taehyung seemed to have gotten a _bright_ idea.

He turned Jeongguk towards him then, taking his hands in his and telling him to, "hold me tight and close your eyes."

"What?" Jeongguk asked in confusion, "why?"

Taehyung reached up to brush Jeongguk's sweaty black hair out of his face, offering a warm smile and seeming almost at peace despite their circumstances.

"What do stars do?" Taehyung asked him.

Jeongguk still didn't seem to have an answer, but that was okay. Taehyung leaned in to kiss him anyway, his hands on the man's cheeks, making him melt even as they had been staring straight in the eyes of death itself.

As his golden shimmer overtook him once more, Taehyung uttered a single answer.

"Shine."

He brought his arms around Jeongguk's waist then, holding him tight and letting his hands roam the expanse of his back beneath his heavy coat.

Jeongguk enveloped Taehyung in his arms, holding the starboy to his chest as if it would be the last time, because given their circumstances, it very well could've been.

As Taehyung's light grew blindingly bright, the star brought a hand up to Jeongguk's nape and gently hid the human's face away in the crook of his neck and shoulder, shielding his eyes away from his brilliantly vivid luminescence.

Within his beaming fiery rays, Lamia was burned away into ash at the bottom of the staircase.

Taehyung's glow dimmed immensely before he pulled away from Jeongguk, who stared back at him with a look of wonder, eyes wide and lips parted.

"Why didn't you do that earlier?" he asked curiously.

"I couldn't have done that without you," Taehyung shook his head, still a bit shocked himself. "No star could possibly shine that bright with a broken heart."

Jeongguk's features softened at that, feeling guilt weighing heavy in his chest as they held onto each other's arms like the other would disappear if one of them let go.

"I thought I'd lost you," Taehyung admitted with watering brown eyes. "But you came back," he smiled up at Jeongguk with nothing but love and adoration. "You came back to me."

"Of course I did," Jeongguk told him, bringing his hands up to cup Taehyung's face. "I love you."

The star literally beamed upon hearing that, unable to resist pulling Jeongguk down for a series of tender, well deserved kisses, just as Una was finally able to enter the building again.

Taehyung pulled away to breathe then, giggling with Jeongguk happily before splitting away from him to meet the boy's mother halfway.

Jeongguk watched them embrace each other before glancing down at the ground where the king's diamond lay free of it's golden chain among the shattered glass.

He knelt down to pick it up, momentarily admiring the way it reflected Taehyung's starlight before approaching him and his mother.

"Jeongguk..." Taehyung gaped, eyes widening as he stared down at the diamond in the boy's palm.

Jeongguk glanced back down at it once more, watching the transparent gem flush a deep ruby red.

"The last surviving male heir of the Stormhold bloodline..." Una smiled up at her son's astounded expression. "It's _you_ , Jeongguk."

**\---**

_"I crown thee, Jeongguk, King of all Stormhold."_

As he sat upon his royal throne, Jeongguk gazed upon the great castle hall, filled to the brim with his subjects; All of which had respectfully kneeled or curtsied to pledge their loyalty to the first benevolent King of Stormhold.

However, Jeongguk had only agreed upon accepting his crown on one single condition.

That condition being, that Taehyung rule at his side as his equal.

On the day of their coronation, when Jeongguk glanced to his right to find his ever-radiant lover staring back at him whilst sitting in a throne of his own, Jeongguk finally and truly felt content with himself and his life.

Princess Una, now more appropriately titled _Queen_ Una of Stormhold, approached them bearing a small white box.

"My gift to you," Una presented the box to Taehyung before the entire kingdom, simultaneously showing her approval of the newly appointed royals. "To you _both_ ," she nodded to Jeongguk proudly, earning a thankful smile from her son.

"Thank you," Taehyung told her sincerely.

"Of course, love," Una replied before she stepped out of the way to rejoin Jeongguk's father off to the side of the room.

Seokjin took Una's hands in his, smiling bright even as he brought her hands up to press gentle kisses upon her ring-adorned knuckles.

Jeongguk had never seen his father as happy, as smitten, as _peaceful_ as he was when he was with Una. 

Jeongguk believed fate led Seokjin to his mother just as it had led him to Taehyung.

Upon lifting the small golden latch on the white box to peek inside, Taehyung glimmered happily before he turned it to show Jeongguk the contents: a single Babylon candlestick.

They ruled for 80 years.

But no man can live forever.

Except he who possesses the heart of a star.

And Taehyung had given his to Jeongguk completely.

Once their children and grandchildren were grown, they decided that it was time to light their Babylon candle.

Among the other stars in the cosmos, Taehyung & Jeongguk shine on, even still today, happily ever after.


End file.
